Weaving Silver With Gold
by CuriousKat13
Summary: In order to win tickets to the upcoming Comic Con, the kids decide to enter an art competition. While Butters helps Cierra with her entry, an old friend of hers comes for a visit whose enthusiasm for the piece and Cierra herself may drive a wedge between Butters and his new friend. Latest entry in my series of SP fanfiction. Be sure to read the previous ones to understand this one!
1. An Artist's Pride

A/N: Hello, internet! It has been a _while_ hasn't it? Figured it was about time for another South Park fanfic. Hope you guys like this one, I was banging my head against a wall for months trying to come up with the plot, rewrote it _twice_ , but I think I got a pretty good one here, let me know what you think and, well, enjoy!

Summary: In order to win tickets to the San Diego Comic Con, the kids decide to enter an art competition. Stan and Kyle begin working on a song, while Kenny and Cartman butt heads on the direction of their entry. Meanwhile, as Butters tries to help Cierra with her entry, an old friend of Cierra's comes for a visit whose enthusiasm for Cierra's work and Cierra herself may be driving a wedge between Butters and his new friend.

* * *

"Ow!" Butters cried.

"Sorry, Butters." Cierra quickly replied. "But you've gotta stay still!"

It was late in the afternoon and the two friends were in Butters's bedroom. Across the floor were scraps of turquoise colored fabric, a pair of sewing scissors, measuring tape and a few pins glimmering under the room's bright light. Butters was standing on a stool wearing a plain-looking, turquoise dress that looked two sizes too big for him with an array of pins at its hemline. Cierra's hair was in a messy blonde bun and she was examining the hem closely with her red reading glasses.

"Ahh!" Butters whimpered again as he felt the poke of another pin. "Hey! Am I a mannequin or a pin cushion?"

"Maybe if you'd quit swinging your arms!" Cierra said with a giggle. "We're almost done for the day. Just hold still!"

Butters held his arms at his sides.

"How much longer until the dress is done?" he asked.

"Well, I'm almost done with the base," said Cierra removing the pins from the dress, "The hem still needs a little work but soon I'll be able to add pleats to the skirt and embroidery to the neckline."

"Uhhh..." Butters said hesitantly. "Pleats? Embroidery?"

Cierra sighed, slightly agitated and shook her head.

"Nevermind," she sighed. She removed the last pin. "I think that's enough for the day." She pulled a magnet from her pocket and began sweeping it across the floor, collecting a small cluster of pins in the process.

Butters sighed in relief and slowly began to take the dress off. Cierra looked away and closed her eyes as Butters was left in only his underwear. While still keeping her eyes closed, she held out her arms and Butters draped the dress across them, then began searching for his clothes. She turned her back on him and placed the dress into a dress bag.

"Let me know when you're decent, Butters," she said over her shoulder.

"Will do," Butters replied chipperly.

Cierra heard Butters shirt and jeans ruffling as he put them back on. She continued to keep her back to him and pushed loose pins into the pin cushion on her wrist.

"Keep an eye out Butters; One of my pins might still be on the floor."

"OW!" Butters shrieked and held his foot tenderly. Cierra whipped her head around.

"What happened!?" she asked in shock.

Butters sat back on the stool and held his foot up to Cierra. A long pin was sticking out of it and Cierra grimaced at the sight. She slowly removed it and Butters rubbed his foot furiously.

"You need some peroxide?" Cierra asked. "That looked like it really hurt."

"Nah," Butters said examining his foot bottom. "I think I'm good."

Cierra cleaned off the pin, stuck it into the pin cushion and stored the cushion into a small black box.

"Thanks again for helping me, Butters. I wouldn't have made this much progress without you."

Butters gave a small smile.

"No problem, Cierra," he said. "I'm happy to help."

"If I still had my dressmaker's dummy…"

"I know," said Butters, "but it broke after the whole gym class incident."

"Don't remind me," Cierra said while shaking her head.

"Butters!" Mr. Stotch called from downstairs. "Is Cierra staying for dinner?"

"Ummm…" Butters looked to Cierra who nodded.

"My Dad isn't picking me up until later," she said.

"She's stayin', Dad!" Butters cried back to his father.

"Since I'm staying for dinner, maybe we can get in a little more work afterwards," she said happily.

"Uh...yeah…" Butters said with a nervous chuckle. "Great."

* * *

The next morning, Butters and Cierra saw Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman all gathered around a poster on the school bulletin board. They headed towards them as the four boys remained unaware of them.

"'Art is Everywhere: Young Artists Competition'," read Stan."'First prize in every category is 4-day passes to this year's upcoming San Diego Comic-Con'."

"Tickets to the San Diego Comic Con!?" Kenny mumbled eagerly.

"Isn't there gonna be a panel for the new Hobbit movie this year?" Stan asked excitedly.

"And sneak peaks for all the upcoming fall and winter release games!" said Kyle with equal excitement.

"You guys, we have GOT to win those tickets," Cartman said urgently.

"But none of us paint," said Kyle.

"That's okay," said Stan, "Look, there are plenty of categories: visual art, auditory art, performance art…"

"Hey, fellas!" Butters said enthusiastically. "What's goin' on?"

"None of your business, Butters," Cartman said dryly.

"An art competition?" asked Cierra. She quickly skimmed the poster and gasped excitedly. "Butters, look!" She pointed to the poster. "There's an applied arts category!"

"Applied arts?" asked Butters.

"It's basically when you make something people use for a practical purpose look nice," Kyle explained. "Like industrial design, graphic design-,"

"Fashion design!" Cierra chipped in. She brought Butters closer to her and whispered into his ear. "We could enter the dress I've been making. I hear the Con is having a Friendship is Magic panel with a sneak peek at season 5!"

"Okay," said Cartman. "I've got visual arts covered."

"Me and Kyle've got audio," said Stan.

"Cuz," Cartman looked to Cierra, "You can help me with my entry."

"Oh...umm…" Cierra murmured. "Actually...I was thinking-" Cierra pursed her lips after saying Cartman's trigger word. Cartman shot her a warning glare and she quickly backtracked, wringing her hands nervously. "-I-I mean, I was HOPING, to enter the applied arts category."

"With what?" Cartman chuckled. "Not one of your piece-of-shit dresses."

"They're not pieces of shit!"

"Right," Cartman said sarcastically. "So, when's the last time you a first prize trophy for them Miss Honorable Mention?" he added smugly.

Cierra recoiled at this question and found herself staring to the floor.

"That's what I thought," Cartman said in the same condescending tone. Unknown to him, Kyle was shooting him a death glare as he continued. "So, you'll be helping me with my entry to spare yourself some embarrassment," he said definitively.

Cierra looked away but before she could say anything more, the six kids were interrupted by another voice.

"What's the point anyway? You peons don't stand a chance," the owner of the voice said haughtily. Before them stood a group of bohemian-looking sixth graders. Their leader, a tall, lean black-haired girl was the source of the comment and stepped forward.

"Do you honestly think your mainstream, crowd-pleasing mindsets will be able to manifest true art?"

"Oh, God…" Cartman groaned.

"Who are _you_ guys?" asked Butters.

"The only kids in school more annoying and preachy than the Eco kids," said Cartman.

"Hipsters," he and Cierra said with the same agitated groan.

" _We_ are all creating a group piece, just for _us_ to enjoy" said a boy with a tattered, sand-colored fedora. "An abstract art piece you plebeians wouldn't be able to comprehend."

"Peons? Plebeians?" asked Cartman.

"Sorry," said the boy, "were those words too...advanced for you?"

"Do you even know what they mean?" asked the lead girl.

"Do _you?_ " asked Cartman.

"Ugh, it doesn't matter," she brushed away Cartman's question. "If the judges have any artistic integrity, they wouldn't so much as _spit_ in your direction."

"Well, that's a little unfair," Cierra said. "Judging our artistic abilities before even seeing any of our work."

"Like we have to," said the girl, "It'll just be the same regurgitated, pop art garbage that's destroying revenues for serious artists like us. _We_ don't need approval from contests to prove we're progressive...Hey..." she got a closer look at Cierra, "aren't you Cierra Cartman?"

Cierra was taken aback but nodded.

"I saw your fashion designs in a contest last year…"

"Yeah?"

"Well, honey," said the girl, "Maybe you should consider dressing yourself in the mornings before thinking about dressing anyone else."

Cierra's eyebrows narrowed at this statement. "I _did_ dress myself this morning!" Cierra cried.

"Not surprised; your fashion sense betrays your…" she chuckled smugly, "...mediocrity as a designer."

Cierra folded her arms across her chest. " _I_ wouldn't talk about fashion sense if _I_ looked like my clothes came out of a _dumpster!_ " she said sharply.

The leader girl scoffed and rolled her eyes as Cartman addressed her.

"What exactly is your 'abstract art piece' called anyway?" asked Cartman.

"Meringue," the leader girl said proudly.

The six kids stood dumbfounded at the absurdity of the name.

"You have no idea what it could be, do you?" asked the leader. "That's its hidden brilliance," she added smugly.

"Oh, I think it's a fitting name for your piece," said Cierra.

"Do you?"

"Yeah, meringue is just like you: white and pretentious," she added sassily.

"Oh-ho!" Cartman put his hands up. "We've got little Miss Sassypants over here today!"

"Is that so?" asked the lead hipster. "Well, I'm surprised a hack designer like you even got past the qualification round in an art competition."

"Hack?" Cierra spat. "Hack!? Who died and made _you_ a fashion expert? I have a friend whose _cat_ dresses better than you!"

"Ooohhh!" Cartman said mockingly. "Burrrn!"

The leader got into Cierra's face and said smugly, "Not if _you're_ the one designing its clothes."

"Get your rancid, kimchi stank breath out of my face!" Cierra spat at her. "And go suck your own farts!"

"Better that than breathing in the wafting stench of your bourgeois presence," she said haughtily.

"Bourgeois is a term that refers to the middle class," said Cierra, "I'm from a six-figure income home, _bitch!"_

"Think you could afford to dress better," the girl shot back.

Cartman put his hands up again.

"Says the girl wearing yesterday's fashions; News flash, those designs were in the thrift store for a _reason._ " She snapped her fingers.

"Ohhhh! Shiiiiit!" said Cartman throwing his hands up again. "Shots _fired!"_

The leader girl huffed. "Well, if you think you're so fashion forward, go ahead and enter the contest."

"I _WILL!_ " Cierra screamed at her. " _And_ I'll win!"

"You tell her, Cierra!" said Butters enthusiastically.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." The lead hipster girl motioned to her friends and they all left.

"You and I are gonna show those pretentious assholes, cuz," Cartman moved to put his arm around Cierra's shoulders but Cierra moved away not even noticing his gesture.

"Butters," she looked to her blond friend, "You and me, after school. We're going to my place and picking up all my materials," she lead Butters away from the other four boys.

"Heck, yeah!" said Butters. "We'll show that snobby skank!"

"Nobody gets away with insulting _my_ artistic abilities," Cierra snarled as she stomped away with Butters in tow.

The four boys looked after the pair confused and Cartman chimed in.

"Usually, Cierra's pretty mild-mannered but...she can get a little crazy when it comes to playing dress-up."

* * *

A/N: Disclaimer-I have nothing against hipster culture, I don't know enough about it. Anyway, leave a review and let me know your thoughts so far!


	2. Heiress to the Throne

A/N: Chapter 2 coming at you! Boy, is this one late. I usually get these chapters up faster than this. Oh, well! It's here now so enjoy and let me know how I'm doin' yeah?

* * *

At dismissal, Cierra was back in her messy blonde bun. Butters shuffled awkwardly to keep up with her as she rushed down the steps. Stan and Kyle were walking at a slower pace and discussing their plans for the contest. Kenny soon joined them but Cartman pushed past all three of them to catch up to Cierra and Butters.

Cierra was staring at her smartphone, looking over a large checklist.

"Okay, Butters," she began, "We're gonna have to go to my place and pick up all my supplies; The deadline for the contest is coming fast and we've got a LOT of time to make up for."

"Right," Butters nodded.

Cartman caught up to the two blonds and addressed Cierra.

"So, cuz," he said, "I was thinking we go with a series of my best photographs," he made a frame rectangle with his fingers, "but use them to tell a wordless story," he said dramatically. "You know a spin on the idea of a 'picture book'. What'dya think?"

Cierra didn't respond, still heavily engrossed in her conversation with Butters.

"Do you think your dad'll mind if come over for the next few days?" she asked. "We still have a lot of work to do for the dress."

Cartman's eyes narrowed and he sported a frown. "Uh, _cuz_? I'm pitching ideas to you," he said irritably, "For the contest? The one _we're_ entering?" he gestured to himself and Cierra. "To win _my_ tickets to the Comic Con?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Butters responded, "As long as we still do our homework and stuff."

"Damn it! Homework!" Cierra said with gritted teeth, "We'll both just have to get it done quickly. We can't make a masterpiece overnight!"

"Umm, _hello?!_ " Cartman waved his hand between Cierra and her smartphone screen. "Cuz, I'm _talkin'_ to you!"

"Sounds great, whatever," Cierra said dismissively, still staring at her checklist. She looked to Butters and declared, "Come on, Butters; we gotta get to the hotel-Now!"

They both walked off, completely unaware of Cartman's disbelieving stare following them.

"Ugh!" he sputtered. "Stupid, fucking dresses," he grumbled. He sneered and turned back to his three friends.

"So, we'll start after dinner," said Kyle, "Brainstorming session?"

Stan nodded.

"Can you believe that bitch cousin of mine?!" Cartman groaned. "Who's gonna help me with my entry now?!"

Stan and Kyle looked to each other.

"I thought you and Kenny were gonna work together," said Stan.

"Kenny?!" Cartman squeaked. "You're kidding, right? He's poor as shit! He's got no sense of artistry! He can't even afford a pencil!"

"Hey!" Kenny mumbled in protest.

"Hey nothin'! You're not getting a free ride on _my_ artistic talent, Kenny!" Cartman said. "Fuck! that!"

"Well, Stan and I are already working together," said Kyle, "And if you need help Cartman and Cierra's not available-"

"No. Fucking. Way." Cartman repeated. "I'll get her to help me, eventually. _And_ I'll win the visual arts category." Cartman said confidently. "Kenny isn't even worthy to lug my equipment around."

"Man, fuck you," Kenny gave Cartman the finger. "I'll do my own entry and win tickets for myself."

"How about if you win the tickets, you sell the extra ones?" Cartman suggested. "You and your family can have _frosted_ Poptarts for dinner. Ahh!" he gasped in a mock dramatic tone, "Or maybe even Toaster Strudel!"

"Up yours, fatass!" her mumbled angrily as he walked away.

"Fuck you, Kenny!" Cartman shouted after him. "Now, where'd my two bitches go?" he mumbled to himself.

* * *

Butters and Cierra arrived at the Ichiban Hotel in record time. They approached the front door but Butters hesitated making Cierra turn back towards him.

"Come on, Butters; we gotta go!" Butters wore a worried frown and Cierra returned it. "What's the matter?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"Umm…" he rubbed the back of his head and leaned closer to Cierra. "I'm still banned from the hotel, remember?" he said

"Oh, yeah," Cierra said flatly as she remembered. "Hmm…" she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Okay, I'll go in, get as much of my supplies as I can," she explained, "and bring them down so we can both bring them to your house." She headed to the door and turned back to Butters. "Just wait out here, okay?"

Butters sat on the sidewalk and nodded to her.

"I'll be right back!" she said and hurried into the hotel's lobby.

The lobby of the hotel was just as luxurious as its outside. Crystal chandeliers shimmered across the ceiling and the floor was golden yellow carpeting and scarlet marble, shined to perfection, with an elaborate pattern of the hotel's logo near the entrance. A medium-sized fountain could be seen in the middle of the lobby and comfortable red armchairs and sofas were situated near potted cherry blossom trees.

Cierra headed towards an elevator and zipped inside before its doors closed. She gently pushed aside some guests in business suits and pressed the button for the 42nd floor. After the guests got off at their respective floors, the elevator slowly rose to Cierra's stop. There was a faint ding! and the doors opened to release her.

She quickly headed for her suite's door and as she came to it, she saw something she recognized immediately: a bright green, see-through tote bag rested right outside of her door. A paper tag bearing a familiar family crest dangled from its handle and Cierra came closer to get a better look at it.

'No way...' Cierra thought. She examined the tag in her hand. 'It couldn't be….'

"Cierra Cartman?! Cierra-chan, is it really you?!" An approaching voice cried out excitedly.

Cierra looked behind her and saw an Asian-American girl her age rushing towards her. She was wearing an emerald green dress with white leggings, a pair of bright yellow ballet slippers and two large ponytails secured with ice blue hair bobbles.

"Kobi?!" Cierra held out her arms just in time for the girl to capture her in a powerful embrace.

"Ohhh…" the girl moaned happily, "I'm so, so, SO delighted to see you again, Cierra-chan!"

"I can't believe it's you, Kobi!" Cierra said happily. "All the way from New York City to South Park!" She pulled away slightly and asked. "Wha-what _are_ you doing here?"

"Well…." Kobi released Cierra. "...Papa has to deal with some business in town and after hearing he was heading to the Ichiban here in Colorado, I thought 'Why not take the opportunity to see my best friend in the entire world again?'!" She quickly grabbed Cierra again and brought her into another hug while grinning ear to ear.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you again, Kobi!" Cierra said with a smile.

"But, of course!" Kobi said. "We're best friends, after all!" She took Cierra's hand and began to lead her back to the elevator "Now come, come! We've got _SO_ much catching up to do!"

Cierra gently pulled away from Kobi's grasp. "Oh….I wish I could, Kobi," she began.

Kobi turned to Cierra and raised an eyebrow. "But….?" she asked suspiciously.

"But I've gotta carry all my dressmaking materials downstairs," Cierra explained.

Kobi's eyes widened. "Oooh!" she squealed in delight. "Another Cartman Creation?"

"Yeah," said Cierra, "And it's for an upcoming contest."

Kobi gasped and put her hand on Cierra's chest. "Do you need any help?" she asked. "I've got my sewing kit and a dressmaking dummy in my penthouse."

Cierra raised an eyebrow and said. "Really? That's a lot to bring for just a visit."

"Oh, well," Kobi stammered but quickly stated, "You never know when inspiration will strike, yeah? Plus, I remember you saying you broke your old one, so I got you a new one!"

"Oh! Thanks, Kobi!" Cierra said gratefully.

"Oh, you're very welcome!" Kobi said graciously. "But, um, why _do_ you need to bring your supplies downstairs?"

"Well, Butters is helping me make the dress," said Cierra. "He's...sort of been my replacement dummy for the past few weeks."

"Butters…?" she touched her chin thoughtfully, "the new friend you've told me about? Oh-ho, that's adorable!" Kobi giggled. "Is he here right now?!"

"Yeah, outside." Cierra suddenly got an idea. "Actually, Kobi, would you mind doing me a big favor?"

"Oh, I'd do anything for you, Cierra-chan!" Kobi put an arm around her friend and held her close. "What is it?"

"Well…." Cierra said hesitantly.

* * *

Butters still sat on the sidewalk outside of the hotel and drummed his fingers on the concrete softly. He sighed and fidgeted impatiently, waiting for Cierra's return. As he began to succumb to his finger's humdrum tones, he heard the hotel's door open again and Cierra's voice faintly traveling from it. He turned to greet his friend but his face slightly fell when he also saw someone he didn't recognize.

"Butters! C'mere!" she gestured for him to approach her and Kobi. "Butters, this is Kobayashi, Ichiban. She's one of my oldest friends from back in New York!"

"Oh….well, uh..." he held his hand out to Kobi, "N-nice to meet you."

Kobi grinned and shook his hand enthusiastically, "And a positively _elated_ hello to _you_ , Butters!"

"Cierra," Butters said as his voice vibrated from the force Kobi's handshake, "I thought we were in a hurry to get back to making your dress."

" _Our_ dress, Butters. And we are! Kobi and I just came out here so we could all head up to her penthouse suite. We're gonna continue the dress right here!" Cierra pointed to the hotel.

"But, Cierra," Butters continued to vibrate and Cierra put her hand on Kobi's to make her stop shaking his hand. Kobi grinned sheepishly and pulled away.

"Sorry about that," said Kobi, "I just _love_ meeting new people! Especially when they're _my_ age!" She gestured to herself.

Butters steadied himself and continued. "Well, anyway. Cierra, I can't go into the hotel. I'm banned, remember?"

"Not anymore you're not!" Cierra said joyfully. "I talked to Kobi," she placed a hand on Kobi's shoulder, "and she got her father to pardon you!"

"Her father?" Butters raised his eyebrow.

"Butters…." Cierra explained, "The _Ichiban_ Hotel? Kobayashi, _Ichiban_?"

"Wait!" Butters shook his head in disbelief, " _You're_ the Ichiban in The Ichiban Hotel?"

Kobi nodded. "The hotel chain is owned by my dearest Papa, Kobayashi-San. What good is it being an heiress if you can't throw your weight around once in a while?"

"Wow! Uh, thanks, Miss Kobayashi," said Butters.

"It was my pleasure to help a friend," said Kobi as she beamed at Cierra. "Now, come! Come, come!" She gestured for them to follow her, "from what Cierra-chan has told me, we've all got some _serious_ work to do!" She pointed a declarative finger to the sky and sped through the revolving door.

Cierra giggled at her friend's antics. "She can be a little crazy, huh?" Cierra admitted. "But she's _really_ nice," she said to reassure Butters. "And you heard her; she loves meeting new people."

"Yeah," Butters said, "I guess so."

"I know she can be a lot to take in," Cierra continued, "But trust me," she put her hand on Butters shoulder, "we're all gonna become the best of friends." She removed her hand from his shoulder and the two walked through the revolving door. Kobi bounced up and down as she eagerly waited beside the elevator. Its doors opened and she gestured them to quickly enter. They were the elevator's only riders and Kobi still bounced and squealed in anticipation as the elevator doors closed on them.

* * *

A/N: Hmm...seems like a cross between Rarity and Pinkie Pie if you ask me. Introduction of new characters for the win!


	3. The Silver Third Wheel

A/N: Wow! This was a long time coming! I've been pretty busy lately, so I was bound to be late uploading this. But things have momentarily slowed down. _Momentarily._ As in there may be another significantly long wait until chapter four. But until then, enjoy chapter three and let me know what you think!

* * *

The elevator dinged as it reached the 50th floor. As the doors opened, Kobi's voice could be heard throughout the halls. She chattered excitedly as she walked between Cierra and Butters down the hallway.

"...After the work I've seen you do, they'll eat their words, I tell you!" she exclaimed. "How dare those hipster, lowlives insult your artistic prowess!" she snarled. "Oh! It makes me want to-" Kobi shook with frustration and Cierra looked to her concerned while Butters shirked away. Kobi took a deep breath and she exhaled slowly as she continued. "Well...I won't." Her smile returned and they all continued down the hallway. "Let's just hurry," she ran ahead of Butters and Cierra but kept checking to make sure they were behind her. "I can't wait until you see this; the penthouse of this Ichiban is simply _breathtaking!_ " she said excitedly.

"If it's anything like the one you've got in New York," Cierra said calmly, "I'm sure it will be."

"Oh, Cierra-chan," Kobi turned to face her before they rounded a corner. "New York City _is_ wonderful but it doesn't have the picturesque mountain views you have out here!"

They all turned the corner and came to a large set of double doors. Kobi pulled out her key card swiped it across the door latch's red light. It briefly flashed green and a beep was heard as the latch clicked. Kobi pushed them open and stood before Butters and Cierra.

She first said a phrase in Japanese, then followed up by proudly declaring, "Welcome…..to my little slice...of heaven."

Butters and Cierra stood in awe. The first thing they saw was a brilliant view of the distant mountains through the windows along the walls. There was an ivory sectional sofa with gold and scarlet decorative pillows and a large glass top coffee table in the middle of the living room. On an opposite wall was a huge flat-screen TV and another nearby wall had a running fountain in glass made to look like a waterfall. The light fixtures were elegantly designed to look like blooming flowers and a series of cloud shelves were fixed around the entire space.

Kobi slipped off her shoes by the door and asked in anticipation, "Well, what do you think?"

Cierra was the first to speak. "I'm not surprised you didn't waste any time making this place your own," she said as she slipped off her shoes, "even for a short visit," she added.

"Well, you know me," Kobi gestured to herself, "Always bringing home wherever I go."

Cierra heard a faint meow coming from one of the higher shelves. It came from a large cat with long, black fur.

"Princeton!" Cierra cooed. "You brought him, too!?"

"Of course!" said Kobi. "I never go anywhere without my neko-chan!" she added in a baby-voice.

Cierra approached him and reached her index finger up to pet him.

"Hiya, boy," she said sweetly. Princeton noticed her finger and guided it from his nose to the top of his head. He scrunched his body, preparing to jump and leapt down into Cierra's arms. "Did you miss me?" Cierra asked as Princeton's amber yellow eyes stared at her.

"Why wouldn't he miss his oba-chan?" Kobi cooed to Princeton. "He's our pretty, pretty kitty isn't he? Isn't he? Aren't you?" Kobi scooped Princeton into her arms and let him down on the ground. As Kobi began making kissy faces at Princeton, Cierra looked up and noticed Butters was still frozen in awe.

"Butters?" she called to him. "Butters?" She waved a hand in front of his face but he didn't respond. Kobi took her attention from her darling cat and came to the opposite side of Butters, tasking herself with closing Butters' gaping mouth. As soon as his mouth as closed, Butters snapped back to reality.

"Oh! Uh, thanks," he stammered.

"No problem; classic first-time reaction," Kobi said coolly. "But enough gawking!" she declared. "We have a dress to make!"

"Right!" said Cierra. She pulled the turquoise dress from the bag and Kobi pulled out Cierra's new dressmaking dummy. Cierra slipped the dress onto the dummy and it hung loosely off its frame.

"Hmm…" Kobi looked at the dress thoughtfully. "We certainly have a lot of work ahead of us." Butters came to Kobi's side and Cierra put on her sewing glasses.

"You're telling me," she said as she joined the two of them. "The fit is still too loose and the hem is uneven!" she cried in frustration.

"It could use a bit of tender, loving care in the neckline too," said Kobi.

"I was gonna fixed that once I sized it up," said Cierra.

"Is there a concept sketch of the finished product, Cierra-chan?" Kobi asked in a crisp, upper-class tone.

Cierra gasped. "Oh! Of course!" she said in a similar tone. She quickly went to her bag, pulled out her sketchbook and showed it to Kobi and Butters. The dress was a sundress with a flared, pleated skirt and silver colored embroidery.

"Oh! It. Is. A. _Masterpiece!_ " said Kobi. "I didn't expect anything less!"

"You really like it?" Cierra asked.

"It's _really_ pretty, Cierra." said Butters. "I wish I could draw like you."

"It's not just a drawing, Butters," Kobi explained. "It's a guide Cierra will use to make the dress on paper a living, breathing work of art!"

"Lately, I...haven't really been feeling 100% on my...'talent' as a designer," Cierra said sadly.

"Oh, Cierra..." Butters came to Cierra's side and reached for her shoulder but pulled away when Kobi beat him to it.

"Stop right there, Cierra Cartman!" she placed a finger on Cierra's lips. "You didn't let that _hipster,_ " she said the last word with disgust, "get to you, did you?"

"Not just her," Cierra confessed, "After the last few contests I entered not ending so well-"

"Cierra-chan…" Kobi continued. "...you've always had this problem," She put her hands on her hips. "This lack of confidence, which, quite frankly, I find ridiculous." She opened her arms out wide to Cierra. "You're positively _amazing_. I just don't understand why you don't believe that."

"Mmm…" Cierra moaned softly.

Kobi frowned at this and quickly changed the subject. "The turquoise is certainly an interesting color choice, Cierra-chan. Not everyone can pull it off, but it's a _gorgeous_ color for spring _and_ summer."

"That's exactly what _I_ was thinking!" said Cierra perking up instantly. "What about you, Butters?"

"Well, I-I think it's nice," Butters said.

"Are you going to stick with the V?" Kobi asked. "Because sweetheart would be magnificent!"

"Hmm, maybe," said Cierra. "But I not every girl our age will be able to fill it with sweetheart."

"Huh?" Butters wondered out loud.

"Maybe if the pleats were a little less defined," said Cierra, "As it is, only adding more fabric will stand for the accordion look."

"True, but one of the loveliest things about a sundress is getting to whirl around in it and feeling the breeze around your calves and knees," Kobi pointed out. "Don't you think so, Butters?" she looked to him.

Butters still felt a bit confused. "Um….yeah...sure, I guess."

"Hmm…" Kobi said softly. "Maybe just a simple A-line?"

"Maybe," said Cierra as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Kobi looked away from the dress and to Cierra. "I'm just _SO_ happy that you've started designing competitively again, Cierra-chan," she said excitedly. "I've missed seeing... _that_!"

"What?" Cierra said.

"That spark in your eyes," Kobi explained.

"A spark?" Butters asked.

"It's like...I can see a big fire burning inside of you," she placed a hand on Cierra's chest. "I see it every time you do something you love. But...I haven't seen it in a _while_ ," she added longingly.

Cierra frowned and looked to the ground in front of her. "I...guess it has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Cierra?" asked Butters.

Cierra snapped back and looked to Kobi. "But I'm doing it now, right?"

"Right!" Kobi chirped. "Now about the hemline," she continued. "If you _do_ decide to make it A-line you could also make it asymmetrical…."

"Asymmetrical!?" Cierra cried. "It may as well be micro then!" she added with a laugh.

The girls may as well have been speaking Kobi's native Japanese. Butters couldn't understand a single word she or Cierra was saying. They both spoke passionately about their plans for the dress and Butters couldn't help but feel...out of place between the two artists.

* * *

Later, all three children were working hard on the dress. Cierra was sizing it up on the dressmaking dummy, Kobi was setting up her sewing machine and Butters was sitting behind Cierra with her black bag of utensils.

"Butters," Cierra held out her hand, "could you pass me the French curve?"

Butters looked in the bag of Cierra's tools and bit his thumb nervously.

"Butters?" Cierra repeated, "French curve, please."

"Uhh…" Butters pulled out a ruler that bent into a long round curve. "This one?" he asked.

Cierra reached for it but pulled away after getting a look at it.

"Butters," she said. "That's a vary form curve," she explained. "I need a _French_ curve."

"Well, uh, which one is it?" Butters began digging around in the tool bag.

"Butters, no!" Cierra insisted. "I have every tool in there organized! You'll mess up my arrangement!"

"Oh, geez!" Butters said nervously. "I'm sorry!" He tried to put it down gently but ended up dropping it and winced as the tools clattered loudly.

Cierra pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned softly.

Kobi quickly and gently pushed Butters aside, reached into the bag and pulled out a ruler with very kooky-looking curves.

"Here you are, dearest," she said sweetly.

"Thanks, Kobi," Cierra said with a sigh. Butters hung his head and held his arm in shame. "How's the sewing machine?"

"Oh, splendid," said Kobi, "I just need the appropriate needle."

"I'll get one!" Butters chimed. He carefully opened the bag and presented Kobi with a needle. "Here you go!" he said proudly.

"Mmm…" Kobi grimaced, "Butters, that needle is for sewing, not a sewing _machine_."

"Well, what's the difference?" Butters asked.

Cierra's eyes widened in disbelief and gently bumped her head against the dummy. She took a deep breath and slowly said, "A sewing machine's needle is bigger, Butters. To fit in the machine."

"Oh! Oh, okay!" He put the smaller needle away and reached for a larger one. "Ow!" he cried making Cierra shriek in surprise. Butters began to suck on his finger.

"No worries, Butters," Kobi said gently. She retrieved the needle she needed and added, "Always reach for the head of the needle first."

"Right, " Butters said softly.

Cierra continued working on the dress with a look of intense focus. Meanwhile, Kobi finished setting up the sewing machine and came back beside Butters.

She leaned close to him and whispered, "Butters, dear, you'll have to forgive Cierra-chan." She pulled Butters away from Cierra and closer to the doorway. "When she's working, she can be very….intense."

"Yeah, I-I noticed," said Butters.

"It's not your fault, Butters," said Kobi, "she just needs a little space."

Butters looked over his shoulder to Cierra, who had begun marking the sleeves with her French curve guiding her.

"How about this, Butters?" said Kobi. "I've got the know-how to help Cierra at this point in the dressmaking process, why don't I- _we_ ," she gestured to herself and Cierra. "take over for now and call you if we need you?" She placed a hand on the door and Butters heard a faint hiss near his feet. They both looked down and saw Princeton flicking his tail back and forth. "Princeton…." Kobi said sternly as Princeton let out a soft growl.

"Just….leave?" asked Butters.

"Well, only because you seem just…slightly…," she made a"little bit" gesture with her fingers, "...underfoot, dear." Butters looked back to Cierra and frowned. Kobi noticed this and spoke more gently. "I-It's nothing against you. You just….don't have much to offer in terms of help right now," she said quickly. She held her hands and darted her eyes nervously.

"Oh…" Butters said sadly. "O-o-okay. I, uh….I guess I'll just….go then."

Kobi nodded. "I think that's what's best for now." She opened the door for him.

Butters stepped over Princeton and through the doors. "Well….it was nice meeting you."

"Oh, and it was a _delight_ meeting you, Butters!" she said in a chipper tone. "We'll see each other again very soon. Promise!" And with a wave, Kobi shut the doors and Butters was left standing in the hallway alone holding his shoes.

"Huh…" he muttered. "Bye..."

* * *

A/N: Busy bees, those ladies! But yeah, the intense focus thing? The crabbiness when being interrupted? Happens to me too, _a lot._ Well, the usual shtick all of you readers. Read, review, leave feedback, and helpful critique. Let me know how I'm doin'! Until chapter four, toodles!


	4. Creative Differences

A/N: Oh, my God, you guys! Chapter four, YAY! Enjoy the long overdue update! :3

* * *

Inside Stan's bedroom, Stan and Kyle lay on Stan's bed resting their jaws on their fists. They both stared intensely at a blank notepad and two pencils were nestled in between them. Kyle drummed his fingers on his cheeks and Stan pressed his jaw more forcefully against his knuckles.

Stan sighed heavily with exasperation and turned over onto his back.

"I got nothin'," he grumbled.

"Me, too," Kyle muttered.

"Ugh! Why does this have to be so hard?" Stan growled.

"Getting started's always the hardest part," Kyle pointed out. He took one of the pencils and rested himself on his free arm. He batted the pencil's eraser against the notepad before taking it into his mouth. Stan stared at the ceiling in frustration as Kyle began nibbling on his eraser.

"We need an idea for a song, dude," Stan said still focused on the ceiling.

"Hmmm..." Kyle scratched his head with the pencil and said hesitantly, "Uhhh...a love song?"

Stan's eyes went wide in disbelief, "A love song?!" he screeched, "Like the world doesn't have enough of those!"

"Hey! Love songs are popular for reason!" Kyle pointed out.

"Popular, not good," Stan rebuttled.

"Right..." Kyle said dejectedly. He continued to bat the pencil against the notepad.

"What about a break-up song?" asked Stan.

"Aww, dude!" Kyle whined. "Those are even lamer than love songs!"

"Yeah," Stan admitted as he turned onto his stomach. "But more people can relate to heartbreak than being in love."

"True," said Kyle, "But it's a little...depressing."

"Hmm..." they said in unison.

Stan returned to staring towards the ceiling and Kyle rose from the bed to sit at Stan's computer desk, taking the notepad with him. He poked his chin with the eraser thoughtfully. "A song about….overcoming adversity?" he asked.

"Ehh..." Stan did a so-so motion with his hand.

"Wait!" Kyle had a eureka moment.

"Got something?" Stan sat up at his best friend's sudden enthusiasm.

"What about a song about fear?" Kyle suggested.

"Fear?" Stan raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! It's relatable, but not too standard," Kyle pointed out.

"Hmm…." Stan pondered, "Maybe…."

Kyle started to write his idea down and thought to himself, 'Wonder if Cartman and Kenny are having any trouble?'

* * *

In his room, Cartman sat on his bed mulling over his older photo albums.

"Hmm..." he grumbled. "These are pretty good," he admitted looking over two of his classic works, "Moods of Winter" and "Hot Fudge Mondae", "but if I'm gonna win this contest, I'm gonna need more than 'pretty good'." He seized a piece of paper nearby his feet. On the top was the title "Possible Themes" scribbled in messy handwriting. And Cartman growled softly to himself, frustrated that the only words on the paper was the title.

"Argh! Where's creative consultation when you need it?!" He snatched his smartphone from his nightstand and speed dialed Cierra. Its rings were agonizingly slow and Cartman drummed his index finger on his album impatiently. Eventually, he heard a voice come from the phone.

"This is Cierra," said a gentle but wooden voice, "I can't come to the phone right now-"

"Goddamn it!" Cartman snarled, "Fucking voicemail again?! Augh!" He threw the phone down and continued gazing intensely into his empty idea paper.

Meanwhile, Kenny sat on the sidewalk outside Cartman's house. His face was contorted into an agitated scowl and he briefly rubbed his head and growled in frustration. He soon returned to his original position and pouted in aggravation as he heard a pattering set of footsteps approach him.

A shrill bark met his ears and made him jump. The bark belonged to a small black and white speckled puppy who playfully bowed at him.

"Sorry 'bout that, Kenny," said a familiar voice. Butters held the leash of the frisky puppy while tucking his free hand into his pocket. "Pepper can be pretty feisty."

"It's ok," said Kenny. He held out his hand to Pepper who sniffed it curiously. "What are you doing here? Aren't you and Cierra working together?"

"We are!" Butters said defensively. "I mean….I thought we were."

"What happened?" Kenny's asked.

"Well...I kind of...don't know anything about dressmaking," Butters confessed.

"Dressmaking?" Kenny asked as Pepper allowed him to pet her head.

"Yeah," Butters explained. "I was...sorta this mannequin that Cierra was making the dress on." He added with a sheepish chuckle.

"Riiiight..." said Kenny with a raised eyebrow.

"And we were gonna work on the dress at her place, right? But since I'm still banned from the hotel, you know, Cierra goes to get her stuff so we can work on the dress at my house instead."

"Okay..." Kenny nodded.

"So, I wait for a while and Cierra comes back with her friend, Kobi."

"Who's Kobi?" Kenny asked.

"A friend of Cierra's from New York here for a visit."

"Really?" asked Kenny.

"The heiress, right?" said a third voice. Cartman came to stand with Butters and Kenny. "Yeah, I know about her," he grumbled. "No wonder my cousin's not answering her phone when she's supposed to." Pepper began to retreat closer to Butters and her ears began to pull back.

"What'dya mean, Eric?" asked Butters.

"She's always hogging the girl's attention; you can't get a fucking word in edgewise when those two are together!"

"She... _is_ a little excitable," said Butters hesitantly.

"A little?!" said Cartman. "I've never seen this chick's face, but I've seen liberals on Tumblr that don't talk as much as her." Cartman's eyebrows narrowed. "Butters, you didn't leave my cousin there with that motormouth bitch, did you?"

"Well, why not?" asked Butters. "She has more know-how about dressmaking than I do."

"Oh...so _that's_ what happened..." Cartman said thoughtfully.

"What?" Butters asked nervously. Pepper continued to growl near Butters feet and began scowling at Cartman.

"Well, Kobi...my cousin's 'friend', has a habit of...being stickier than bubble gum."

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" mumbled Kenny.

"You know, she's clingy!" Cartman explained. "And an attention whore! And she'll be damned if anyone tries to get between her and her 'best friend.'" he added bitterly. "Honestly, Butters, I thought my cousin liked you enough to not let her so-called friend kick you out."

"Kobi...Kobi didn't kick me out!" Butter stammered. "I was just...underfoot is all."

"Oh, sure," Cartman said sarcastically. "You weren't any help at all to my cousin, that's why she _didn't_ snub her own cousin and want to enter the contest with you, right?"

"Oh, get over yourself, fatass," Kenny grumbled.

"Shut up, Kenny!" Cartman screeched. He came closer to Butters and placed a hand on his shoulder. Pepper began growling even louder and bared her teeth as Cartman continued speaking. "Butter, brah, look, we're friends, so I'm gonna help you, all right? Kobi doesn't like anyone taking her best friend's attention away from her. She will hog the fuck out of the spotlight like nobody's business." Butters' expression began to show worry. "So, if you don't want my cousin to totally forget about you, you gotta be a fucking man and assert your status as my cousin's friend!"

Kenny rose and stood between Cartman and Butters. "Butters, don't listen to him! I'm sure Cierra isn't gonna forget about you just 'cause her old friend is here."

"Excuse me!" Cartman poked Kenny in the chest. "Have _you_ met Kobi?"

"No!" Kenny batted his hand away. "And neither have _you_!"

"Whatever!" Cartman shrugged.

"Try figuring out a way you _can_ help," Kenny suggested. "Is there any way you can that you don't need to know a bunch of dressmaking stuff?"

"I-I don't know," said Butters. "Kobi said she'd call if there was a way I could help, though."

Cartman cackled cruelly and asked, "Is that so? Well...how long ago was that, Butters?"

Butters pulled out his phone and checked the time. It flashed 6:30 pm in bold print.

"About...three hours ago," Butters said flatly.

"Whoo! That's great, Butters!" Cartman said chuckling, "Just _fantastic_! Have fun having no contest entry and no best friend." He held his stomach as he laughed with sadistic glee. Butters hung his head sadly and Kenny's glare at Cartman matched Pepper's perfectly.

Butters tightened his grip on Pepper's leash and she walked along his side, still growling at Cartman.

"Well..." said Butters sadly. "I-I better get Pepper here back to the shelter. If I'm late for dinner, I'll get grounded again."

Kenny patted Butters on the back and said. "Look, dude. Kobi's only here for a visit and Cierra's gonna need your help soon enough. Just be there when she needs you."

"She won't," Cartman chimed in and Kenny promptly flipped him off.

Butters turned around with Pepper in tow and the further away they were, the less aggressive Pepper became.

"Meanwhile, if Miss Kobi is in town," Cartman said, "there's no way cuz is gonna be available for helping me with the contest...So I guess it's your lucky day, Kenny." Cartman added unenthusiastically.

" _My_ lucky day?" Kenny asked angrily.

"Yep, I know you haven't come up with anything for the contest and neither have I," he gestured to Kenny and them himself, "but there have been plenty of creative team ups where one guy does all the hard stuff and the other basically does nothing or stuff that nobody cares about."

"Uh-huh..." Kenny said, still unconvinced.

"Aw, come on, Kenny! I'm desperate! And so are you!" he pointed to Kenny.

Kenny sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, what the fuck whatever," he grumbled as he reluctantly followed Cartman to his house.

Butters looked over his shoulder and watched Cartman and Kenny go into Cartman's house. He let out a heavy sigh and turned to face the ground in front of him. He watched Pepper's leash zigzag wildly as the frisky puppy yapped and skittered from side to side. Butters soon stopped walking as Pepper continued skittering, stretching her leash to its maximum length.

"You don't think it's true, do ya girl?" Butters asked still staring to the sidewalk.

Pepper turned to Butters, happily hanging her tongue out and panting.

"Kobi...did kinda shoo me away," Butters pondered, "But...Cierra said Kobi loves meetin' new people."

Pepper drew her tongue back in and whined softly.

"Hmm...I dunno..."

Pepper whined again and barked.

"Augh; Maybe I'm just gettin' all worked up for nothin'," said Butters, "Listenin' to Eric, again."

Butters looked to the sky that was painted a peach-colored orange by the sunset. Pepper wagged her tail and began panting again.

"I mean," he pulled his free hand from his pocket and gestured with it as he spoke. "I know we haven't known each other real long, but...well, she's still my friend, right?"

Pepper just stared at Butters and wagged her tail.

"And...one of the basic foundations of any relationship is trust...right?"

Pepper continued to stare and wag her tail and Butters gained a more confident look on his face.

"You know somethin'? You're right girl," Butters said. "If Cierra's my friend, I should trust _her_ , not Eric."

Pepper barked in response and began tugging on her leash.

"Alright, Alright. Hold your horses!" Butters cried. "We'll get ya back to the shelter in no time at all." He started walking again and Pepper eagerly moved forward, yapping loudly. "Once we get back to the shelter, I'm gonna go home and call Cierra," he said. "It'll be right after dinner, so-so I'll get her before she heads back to workin' on the dress." Pepper continued walking excitedly. "Ya..." Butters stopped suddenly and held his chin, slightly choking an eager Pepper. "...ya think she'll be around?" he asked. Pepper gave a small growl and urged Butters forward. "Whoa!" he cried as Pepper pulled him. She let out a short yap and Butters' face grew a small smile. "Yeah...I-I'm sure she'll be there."

* * *

Back at the Ichiban, Cierra and Kobi were still working intensely on the dress. The dress had at last been sized down and the skirt flared out. Cierra stood before the dress and was measuring the pleats' sizes, drawing them out with a tailor's chalk pencil. Kobi was busy at a nearby desk, tracing Cierra's embroidery design onto tracing paper. Cierra shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. She started to see double in front of her looked away from the dress. She placed her chalk pencil down, sat down on the carpet, removed her sewing glasses and rubbed her eyes. She groaned softly from exhaustion.

Kobi immediately heard this and looked up from her drawing. She saw Cierra holding her head and leapt from the desk to check on her friend.

"Cierra-chan," Kobi said gently. She knelt down beside her. "Daijōbu?".

Cierra groaned again and shook her head vigorously and answered, "I'm alright. Just...a little eye strain." Cierra looked to Kobi whose face expressed concern. "Really, Kobi. I'm ok," she reassured her. At this, the two girls heard a loud growling noise fill the room.

Kobi shrieked and latched onto Cierra frightfully. "W-what in God's name was that?" she asked as she shook with fear.

Cierra put her hand to her stomach and said bashfully. "Whoops! Ha-ha, guess it's just about dinnertime."

Kobi glanced at the her cable box's clock and said, "I'd say it's more than just about dinnertime."

Cierra looked behind her and saw the digital numbers of the clock flash 8:00pm. "Uh-oh...I did it again."

"Working through meals?" asked Kobi. "Oh! I've done my fair share of that too." Kobi placed a hand on Cierra's shoulder and guided her to her feet. "Tell you what? I can have a light meal brought here via room service and you can sleep over!"

Cierra's face suddenly sunk.

"Oh! Umm...here?" she asked and looked around nervously. "But...well...what about-?"

"Don't worry," Kobi placed a hand on Cierra's shoulder. "We'll be behind at least two locked doors and all the windows will be locked. Promise." She performed a crossing motion across her heart.

Cierra's expression eased up a bit. "Well...it _has_ been awhile since we've had a sleepover," she pointed out.

"Mm-hmm!" Kobi nodded enthusiastically. "We can maximize the amount of time we work on the dress before bed," Kobi took both of Cierra hands into her own, "and even have one of our wonderful pillow chats together!" She pulled Cierra closer and brought their hands up so they would touch her cheek. "Oh, how I've missed those!" Kobi cooed.

"We still do them sometimes," said Cierra smiling at her friend.

"Over the phone!" Kobi pointed out as she brought Cierra's hands back down. "It's been _ages_ since we've done one in person!" Kobi pulled Cierra back to her and into a tight embrace. "I'm just so glad we're together again, Cierra-chan," she said warmly.

"Me too, Kobi," said Cierra returning the embrace. "I was feeling really homesick."

Kobi gasped loudly. "Ahh! That reminds me!" She released Cierra but kept her hands on her shoulders. "I've got a _big_ surprise for you tomorrow!"

"A surprise?" asked Cierra.

"Something to...make you feel a little more at home," said Kobi, "but I'm not giving any hints!" she said in a sing-songy tone.

Cierra couldn't help but laugh. "Ha-ha! If it's anything like your last surprise..."

"Ah-ah-ah!" Kobi placed a finger on Cierra's lip. "We were only eight and nothing held up in court!"

"That was the day I swore off of French dressing _forever_ ," said Cierra.

"Speaking of..." Kobi began, "How about a nice, dark green salad?" She put her arm around Cierra and lead her towards the dining room. "We can have anything in it that you like!"

"Sounds good," said Cierra. "With some nice herbal tea?"

"Yes!" Kobi exclaimed as they left the living room. While they discussed their dinner plans, neither of them noticed Cierra's smartphone vibrating. As it vibrated and buzzed softly, the caller ID showed the caller's picture and name: Butters.

* * *

A/N: Hmmm, what could be stirring amongst our creative teams? Stay tuned for chapter five to find out! Also, PLEASE leave a review to let me know how you're liking the story. Some good stuff's on the way!


	5. Butters' Wingmen

A/N: My God! This was a LONG time coming. I will finish this story by sometime in September, that is my solemn vow. Early or late, it will be finished by September! For now, enjoy the fifth chapter of "Weaving Silver With Gold" and chapter six will be up soon, promise!

* * *

The first bell for school rang shrilly through the halls of South Park elementary. Absentmindedly, Butters transferred books he needed for the morning from his locker to his backpack. As he knelt down to zip his bag closed, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Cierra behind him.

"Butters," she began, "What happened yesterday?"

"What do you mean?" asked Butters.

"I mean, where did you go? Where were you?"

Butters felt his jaw drop.

"Where was _I_?" he asked indignantly. "I called you five or six times last night and you never called me back! Where were _you_?"

Cierra was taken aback but calmly responded, "Umm...sleeping?"

"At 8 o'clock?" Butters wondered.

"Oh!" Cierra realized what Butters was talking about. "Well, Kobi and I were really burning the midnight oil last night," she explained, "so, we had a pretty late dinner. And I don't take my cell phone to the dinner table, so that's probably why I missed your call."

"Oh, really?" Butters' expression became softer.

"I would've called back but I had my phone on mute, so, by the time I saw your missed calls, it was almost midnight," Cierra continued. "I figured you'd be sleeping by then. I'm sorry."

"Oh, well, uh….." Butters rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed by his reaction.

"But why'd you leave anyway?" Cierra asked.

"Well…." Butters still kept his hand to the back of his neck, "Kobi figured I was mostly underfoot yesterday. So-"

"Underfoot?" Cierra raised an eyebrow then gasped silently. "Oh, Butters, I am _so_ sorry for how pissy I got yesterday. It's just, the competition and the deadline and the damn hipsters and….I don't handle stress very well," she admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Well…." said Butters with a grimace.

"But, hey," Cierra said chipperly, "we managed to get the bulk of the dress done. There's just the details and decal left."

"That's great!" Butters said happily.

"We gotta get the necessary supplies after school," Butters nodded in agreement and Cierra gasped silently with excitement. "All three of us can go shopping this afternoon!" she said happily, then added in a calmer tone. "It'll….give you guys a chance to get to know each other better."

"Uhh….y-yeah!" Butters said with noticeably less enthusiasm.

"Great!" Cierra bounced happily and threw her arms around Butters. "I'll see you in homeroom!" She dashed off to their classroom and Butters waved after her. As she headed for the fourth grade classroom, he closed his locker and began to head in the same direction but found himself doing a double take as he glanced down a nearby hallway.

He quickly hid behind a wall as he saw a tall, African-American man by Principal Victoria's office. His hair was slightly graying and he was dressed in a black jacket, a pressed white shirt, gray slacks, shined black shoes, a gray tie and white gloves. He stood solemn with his hands behind his back and a stern look on his face. Principal Victoria soon exited her office and handed the man a small stack of papers.

"...And just bring these back by next week, and you'll be all set," she said.

"Thank you, Principal Victoria," the man responded with a dry tone.

"Oh, no problem; we're happy to have you here."

'Huh,' Butters thought to himself. 'We gettin' another new kid?'

He saw the man approaching his corner and quickly vanished behind it again. At that, Butters heard the second bell's shrill ring through his ears and quickly ran towards his classroom. However, he made the turn too quickly and tripped over his own feet.

"Oh, hamburgers!" he cried out and he began careening towards the floor but was stopped just as suddenly by a strong grip at his jacket. Butters was brought back to his feet and he quickly turned to see the well-dressed man behind him.

"You should be more careful," he said in the same monotonous voice and stiffly walked off in the opposite direction.

"Uhhh, thank you?" he called out to the man, but he didn't respond. This time, Butters decided to walk briskly towards the fourth grade classroom instead of running.

* * *

That afternoon, Butters and Cierra sat together on the stairs outside the school.

"You told her 3 o'clock, right?" asked Butters.

"Mm-hmm," Cierra nodded. She heard a faint buzzing coming from her purse and pulled out her smartphone. "She just texted me," she told Butters. "She'll be here soon."

Stan and Kyle emerged from the school and approached Butters and Cierra.

"Hey, dudes," said Stan. "What's going on?"

"Not much," said Cierra. "We're just waiting for our ride."

"Your dad picking you up?" asked Kyle.

Cierra shook her head. "My friend Kobi's coming."

Stan and Kyle looked to each other then back to Cierra.

"Who's Kobi?" asked Stan.

"An old friend from New York," Cierra told the two boys. "She's visiting for a little while and helping me and Butters with our entry for the contest."

"How's your entry comin', fellas?" asked Butters.

"It's goin' okay," said Stan.

"Still got a lot of work to do, but we're makin' progress," said Kyle.

"What ARE you making?" asked Cierra.

"Oh! Umm," Kyle muttered. "A….song."

"A song?" asked Butters.

"You guys are musicians?" asked Cierra.

"Well, yeah," said Kyle. He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "Stan plays guitar and so do I," he explained. "And drums. And, you know, bass guitar," he added casually.

"Cool!" said Cierra with a smile.

Unnoticed by them, Stan raised a curious eyebrow at Kyle.

"Yeah…." Stan said. "We're writing the song together; I'm doing most of the lyrics, Kyle's helpin' out with accompaniment and feedback on the lyrics."

Kyle looked back at Stan with an eyebrow matching his friend's.

"Sounds good," said Cierra not noticing the silent argument between the two boys.

"Have you heard from Kenny?" asked Butters. "About what he and Eric are doin'?"

Cierra looked back to Butters. "Kenny and Eric are working together?"

"We haven't heard anything since yesterday," said Stan. He then focused his gaze on Cierra. "I guess Cartman couldn't make you work with him after all."

"Make me work with him?" Cierra asked as she gestured to herself.

"Yeah," said Kyle, "he was pretty dead set on you two working together."

"Oh, wow…." Cierra said with a regretful frown. "I had no idea." She brought her knees in and held them close to her in a slightly fetal position.

Kyle frowned at Cierra's worry and reassured her. "Well, d-don't beat yourself up over it, Cierra," he said putting a hand on her shoulder. "You can't let him have his way _all_ the time, right?"

Cierra looked to him and released her knees as her frown turned back into a smile. "Hee-hee, I guess not," she chuckled.

At that, all four kids heard a car pull up. While Butters and Cierra stood slightly surprised at the coming vehicle, Stan and Kyle stood with their mouths completely agape. A long, gorgeous, dark green limousine approached them and its back window slowly came down.

Kobi popped her head out of the window and said in a bubbly tone, "There you are!" She leapt through the window and landed squarely on her feet, sweeping a smiling Cierra up in a tight hug. "And Butters! Good seeing you again!"

"Kobi," Cierra pulled away from Kobi's hug and stepped towards Stan and Kyle. "This is Stan," she pointed to Stan, "and this is Kyle," she pointed to Kyle. "They're entering the contest too. With a song."

"Oh, marvelous!" Kobi chirped. "What's the song about?"

Kyle and Stan didn't answer; they were still as stone still in shock at the sight before them.

"Aww," Kobi cooed, "they're frozen."

She took the liberty of personally closing their mouths for them but this failed to bring them back to reality.

"Oh, my," Kobi said more concerned with their behavior. "I'm….sure they'll be alright," she said with a nervous chuckle.

Cierra poked Kyle curiously and Butters waved his hand in front of Stan's face.

"Come now!" Kobi cried enthusiastically. "We have supplies to buy for our _masterpiece_!"

"Uhhh, right!" Cierra agreed and quickly left Kyle's side. Butters did a small double take and followed her.

As they approached the limousine, the chauffeur stepped out from the driver's seat and stood before them. As he folded his hands behind his back and wore a serious look, Butters recognized him immediately as the sullen man he saw earlier that day. Before, he could point it out to Cierra, however, he turned to her and saw her grinning ear to ear.

"Oh. my. God! _Sam_?!" Cierra said with a delighted shriek. She bolted towards him and flung her arms around his legs in a tight hug. Sam stood as rigid as ever as Cierra rubbed her head lovingly on his knees. She looked up at him, beaming and asked, "Sam, what are _you_ doing here?!"

"As of your and Master Cartman's departure from the city," he explained in a dry tone, "I have been employed by Kobayashi-san as a manservant and legal guardian of Miss Kobayashi," he gestured to Kobi who smiled and tilted her head sweetly.

"And he's been gainfully employed for quite some time, Cierra-chan," Kobi explained. "Surprise!" she squealed.

Cierra buried her face back into Sam. "Oh, Sam...I missed you so much!"

Sam released one of his gloved hands from his behind his back and gently patted Cierra's head. "I have greatly missed your company as well, Miss Cartman."

Cierra looked to Kobi happily. "Kobi, this is amazing!" she said. "You didn't tell me your dad hired Sam!"

"Well, of course I didn't!" Kobi popped up beside Cierra. "How else would it have been a surprise?"

Cierra suddenly grew a thoughtful look on her face. She looked from Kobi to Sam and motioned to Sam to kneel down to her. As he knelt down, Cierra whispered to him. "They don't pay you enough….do they?"

"No. They don't." he said simply. He rose and stepped towards the back door of the limousine, opening it for his young passengers.

At this Stan and Kyle finally came out of their trance.

"Cierra….you used to have a butler?" asked Kyle.

"Oh, um, yeah?" said Cierra. "Since my mom's gone a lot, Dad needed someone to help around the house and help take care of me when I was little."

"Oh," said Kyle. 'Guess Token's got some competition for the rich kid title,' he thought.

"Well, come now!" Kobi called out to the kids. "We've got supplies to buy!" she added joyfully. She grabbed Cierra's hand and she and Butters headed for the limousine. Butters started to climb in but Kobi stopped him. "Butters! Tsk, tsk, tsk! I'm surprised at you!"

"Huh?" Butters asked confused.

"Where are your manners, Mister Stotch? Haven't you ever heard of 'ladies first'?" she asked in a jokingly haughty tone.

"Oh! Oh….of-of course!" Butters stepped aside with a guilty look on his face and let Cierra and Kobi climb into the back before entering himself.

"Good man, Butters," said Kobi. "My Kobayashi-san was always a stickler for good manners."

"That's true," Cierra added with a nod to Butters.

Stan and Kyle came to the door to be seen better.

"Well," said Stan to Butters. "I guess we'll see you and Cierra tomorrow, Butters."

"You guys heading home?" asked Cierra.

"Yeah," said Kyle. "We've got some time before dinner, so we're gonna-"

Before Kyle could finish his sentence, the two boys heard the sound of a vehicle driving away. They both turned just in time to see the school bus driving away without them.

"What the hell?!" Stan cried.

"Hey! Wait!" Kyle cried after the bus. Both boys broke out into a run but their attempt to catch the bus was futile and it left them in a cloud of thick exhaust.

"Aww-awww!" Stan groaned as the bus shank from view..

"Damn it!" Kyle exclaimed. "That's the last bus for an hour!"

"Well, m-maybe my dad can pick us up," Stan suggested. He pulled his smartphone from his pocket and started searching for his dad's number. Kobi's limousine pulled up beside him and Kyle and the back window came down, allowing Butters to stick his head out.

"What happened, fellas?" asked Butters.

"The bus left us, Butters," Kyle said flatly.

Kobi popped her head out beside Butters'. "Oh, dear!" she said. "Well...why don't you ride with us?!" she asked excitedly.

Stan heard his phone ringing as he put it up to his ear.

"Are you sure?" asked Kyle.

"Of course!" said Kobi. "We've got plenty of room! Just tell Sam where you need to go; We'll take you!"

Stan heard the slurred voice of his father's voicemail and hung up in frustration. "Ugh, we might as well, dude," he said to Stan. "Something tells me it's our fastest way home."

Sam emerged from the front once more and opened the back door for Stan and Kyle. Inside the limousine, there were ten leather seats, thrice the height of any of the children, with matching leather pillows that curved around a wood-finished wet bar and cooler. Fiber-optic, multicolored neon lights lined the interior, alongside more normal reading lights in the ceiling. Just behind the wet bar was a large, flat screen tv situated just below the privacy screen between the kids and the chauffeur seat in front. As they took in the interior, Stan and Kyle couldn't help widening their eyes and dropping their jaws again.

"Sit right over there, boys," Kobi pointed to the side opposite to her, Cierra and Butters. Stan and Kyle sat beside each other while Kobi sat between Cierra and Butters.

After shutting the door behind them, Sam returned to the chauffeur seat and the limousine's engine started up again.

"If there are no more passengers, Miss Kobayashi," he asked in a dry tone, "I'll be heading into traffic now."

"Carry on, Samuel," Kobi said in an overly haughty voice before holding in a laugh.

* * *

On the road to Kyle's house, Stan and Kyle got to telling Kobi the details of their project. As they explained, Kobi leaned onto her knuckles and listened with intense interest.

"A song about one's fears?" she asked. "Fascinating…" Her eyes widened, captivated by the idea.

"Yeah, it was Kyle's idea," Stan explained.

"Mmm!" Kobi fell forward to her knees with an "a-ha!" look on her face. She reached into the cooler, through wisps of mist and pulled out three bottles with large apples printed on their labels and mysterious, carbonated brown liquid inside them.

"Can I tempt anyone with a drink?" asked Kobi.

"Huh?!" Butters squealed. "Kobi, we're not old enough to drink alcohol!"

Kobi and Cierra shared a giggle until Cierra began to explain. "Butters…." she said through her laughter, "It's not alcohol! It's sparkling apple cider!"

"And your favorite brand, Cierra-chan!" Kobi handed her a bottle and Cierra took it and slowly opened it making it fizz loudly. She put a bottle aside for herself near her seat in the limousine.

"Boys?" she offered one to Kyle who shook his head.

"No, thanks," he said politely.

"And you, Stan?" Kobi asked.

"I could drink," said Stan, who took it and graciously guzzled it down.

"You haven't _lived_ until you've had apple cider made on an old-fashioned apple farm," said Kobi.

"Mm-hmm!" said Cierra in hearty agreement.

"Can I have one, Kobi?" asked Butters.

"Well, of course, Butters!" She reached into the cooler but suddenly sported a frown on her face. "Oh! Oh no….I think that was the last of them, Butters."

"Oh….really?" Butters looked to the floor disappointedly.

"Well, you can share mine, Butters," Cierra offered.

Kobi perked up and came between Butters and Cierra. "Nonsense, Cierra-chan!" she exclaimed. She picked up her cider and handed it to Butters. "Happily take mine, Butters," she insisted. "It's my fault for not restocking the cooler."

"Well…" said Butters.

"Go on!" said Kobi with a smile. "You deserve your _own_ bottle. _I'll_ share with Cierra," she gestured to herself. Kyle raised an eyebrow at this as Butters slowly took the bottle from Kobi. As Kobi retrieved a small glass from the wet bar, Cierra poured some of her cider into it. Barely half the glass was pull before Kobi stopped her friend's pouring.

"You sure that's enough?" Cierra asked.

"Please…." said Kobi, "I know how much you loved apple cider," she put a reassuring hand on Cierra's shoulder. "Hot, cold, flat, fizzy; it's been your favorite since we were in kindergarten."

"You've known each other that long?" asked Kyle.

"Mm-hmm!" Kobi replied happily.

"And we've been best friends ever since," said Cierra.

Kobi grabbed Cierra in a tight hug and added. "The very _best_ of friends!"

"Huh…." Butters mumbled softly. He went unnoticed by Cierra and Kobi but Kyle showed some concern for Butters.

"So….how's your project going?" asked Kyle. "Butters, you and Cierra said something about a dress?"

"Yeah," said Butters. "Cierra sketched this design for a dress and we've been working on it for a while now."

"Of course," Kobi interjected, "since Cierra informed me about the fast approaching deadline, I've been putting my visit to good use, helping my dear, dear best friend," she added holding Cierra's hand.

"Kobi…" Cierra looked away bashfully.

"Cierra…" Kobi responded playfully. "And we've been busy bees bringing her artistic vision to life!" she added dramatically.

"Kobi, knock it off!" Cierra shout-whispered as a faint tint of red made its way across her face.

"Oh, Cierra-chan," Kobi let her hand go and gave her a gentle look before turning back to Kyle and Stan . "It really is something to behold." She quickly reached for Cierra's bag and pulled out her sketch pad so fast Cierra didn't get a chance to react. "Take a look!" Kobi said handing it to Stan.

"What?!" Cierra cried. Stan took the book and Kobi quickly restrained Cierra to stop her from taking it back.

"Cierra, relax!" said Kobi in a strained voice. "It's absolute brilliance and you know it!"

"I-it's just a concept sketch!" Cierra pleaded. "It's not _that_ good."

"Whoa!" Stan exclaimed. "Dude, check it out!"

Kyle peered over into the book and saw Cierra's work in progress sketch. "Damn, it's amazing!"

Kobi gave Cierra an "I told you so" smug smile and Cierra stuck her tongue out in response. Kobi giggled silently.

"Cierra, you really drew these?" asked Stan.

"W-well, uh, y-yeah," Cierra stammered.

"She's so modest," said Kobi. "Of course she drew them! And with her artistic vision, that contest is as good as won, right?!"

"Right," said Cierra.

"Ri-" Butters began to respond but Kobi spoke over him.

"We're actually heading over to a hobby and craft store called Creative Visions at your local mall," she explained, "and I'm sure you and Stan still need to get to work on your own project. So,where are we dropping _you_ off?"

"Oh," said Stan, "You just make a left after the next light," he began to explain but Kyle nudged him to stop.

"Actually," said Kyle, "Stan and I were gonna head to that store later, so since you guys are already going-"

"We were heading to _that_ store-?" asked Stan.

" _Yeah, dude_ ," Kyle said with clenched teeth. "You said you needed a new pick for your guitar, _right_?" he said in a strained tone. "And we need some new guitar strings."

"They sell those there?" asked Kobi.

"Yeah," said Cierra, "I've been there before and they sell pretty much anything and everything that has to do with creativity."

"Well….all right….." Kobi said hesitantly at first but then became more enthusiastic, "Why not?! The more the merrier! It'll be a regular party!" Kobi began bouncing happily and pressed an intercom beside Cierra. "Sam? Bypass the suburbs. We're _all_ going to the mall!"

"Very good, Miss Kobayashi," Sam responded dryly.

"Dude," Stan whispered to Kyle, "The strings and picks are better at the music shop in the mall; why are we going to Creative Visions?"

"I know, but," Kyle whispered back, "I've got this bad feeling about what's going on between Butters, Cierra and Kobi." He nodded over to the three aforementioned children. Cierra and Kobi had begun a new conversation and Butters was, unnoticed by them, staring blankly out his window. "I think Butters is gonna need some wingmen if he wants to save his place in this competition."


	6. Ojama-Mushi

A/N: Dude...life...is too busy! But I promised I'd have this story done before the end of the month and I think I've got three more chapters to write at most. So we're approaching the end of act two of this story I think. So don't worry about the story being short on drama! Also more Kenny and Cartman will be coming soon! But for now, enjoy chapter six!

* * *

A short time later, the five kids and Sam arrived at the South Park Mall. Stan and Kyle were the first to exit the limousine, with Butters and Cierra right behind them.

"Shouldn't take more than two hours, Sam," Kobi said chipperly as she hopped out of the limousine. Sam nodded in agreement and left the children at the mall's entrance. Kobi waved goodbye to Sam hyperly then quickly made her way to Cierra's side.

Kobi curled up her hand into a fist and punched the palm of her opposite hand. "All right!" she cried. "Let's do this!" she added in a deep, serious sounding tone. That tone melted away almost immediately as she quietly snickered and cried out happily, "Yay! Shopping!" She threw her arms into the air and ran through the mall's electronic doors. Butters and Cierra followed in a pair behind her, while Kyle and Stan brought up the rear.

Near the entrance, they found Kobi in front of the mall's map. She scanned it for signs of their designated store.

"Hmm," she muttered, "for a mall so small, seems very easy to get lost."

"It's upstairs, Kobi," Cierra explained as she and the others approached.

"Do you see it, Cierra-chan?" she asked still unsure, "the floors both look the same to me." She looked away from the map and towards Cierra and said with a soft chuckle, "Though...it's nothing like the King of Prussia, eh?"

"Oh, this place is a general store compared to that _monster_ of a mall!" said Cierra with a laugh.

"What's-what's the King of Pru-uh, Prusea?" asked Butters.

"It's the second biggest mall in America, Butters," Cierra explained.

"Yes," said Kobi. "Cierra and I went on an overnight trip to Pennsylvania once…." she began to explain.

"Yeah, it was me, Kobi, Connie and Talia," Cierra said.

"Who?" asked Kobi.

"Connie and Talia," Cierra repeated. "It was their idea, remember?"

"Oh….oh, yes! Of course….them," she said with a slightly unsure tone.

Butters raised his eyebrow at Kobi's response.

"How _are_ they, Kobi?" Cierra asked. "You said you were still hanging out with them?"

"Oh, yes," said Kobi. "But they've been...busy. You know, new school year and all," she added with a chuckle.

* * *

The five kids soon came to the entrance to Creative Visions. Kobi looked up at the store in awe as Butters and Cierra came to either side of her.

"This is it," said Cierra, "the store for creative minds everywhere."

"It's delightful!" Kobi shout-whispered. She then took on a more serious tone. "Our dressmaking supplies await." She skipped into the store happily as Cierra followed her. Butters trailed behind and felt a hand on his back.

"Go on, dude," said Kyle, gently pushing Butters ahead. "It's your dress too, right?"

"Umm,...well, yeah…." Butters murmured.

Kyle held his chin thoughtfully. He watched Cierra and Kobi head down an aisle lined with fabric and began pushing Butters with more force.

"This place has everything!" Kobi said excitedly. "We'll find the materials we need here for sure!"

"So, Cierra…." Kyle said quickly rounding on her and Kobi with Butters. "What exactly did Butters do to help with the dress you designed?"

Cierra turned towards Kyle and began to explain.

"Oh, well," she said. "My older dressmaking dummy broke a while ago. Butters was helping me with the dress's basic shape by…." she embarrassedly rubbed the back of her neck, "...being a replacement dummy."

Stan came to Butters' far left and snickered. "You were _wearing_ the dress, dude?" he asked with a laugh.

"Well, I was just trying to help!" said Butters. "I don't really know anything about dressmaking!"

"Well, you've no need to worry about that, Butters, dear," said Kobi as everyone turned towards her. "Now that I'm here, you won't have to feel _any_ pressure."

Cierra raised an eyebrow at her friend's statement that went unnoticed.

"No pressure," said Butters, who Cierra looked back towards, "I _wanna_ help make the dress!" he added determinedly.

"Hmm….I have an idea," said Cierra. "There are some beginners guides to sewing and garment making in a nearby aisle. I can pick up one of those for you, so you can have some basic dressmaking know-how and then the three of us," she gestured to herself, Butters and Kobi, "can work on decorating the dress together."

Kobi gained a surprised look on her face behind Cierra's back at this.

"That's a good idea," said Stan. "Decorating the dress isn't that complicated, right?"

Cierra shook her head. "No, not at all," she said.

Butters got a hopeful look in his eyes. "You really think that'll help?" he asked.

"Of course!" said Cierra. "It's the least I could do after what happened last night."

"Hmm," Kobi murmured softly. She then perked up and put her arm around Cierra's shoulders. "Marvelous suggestion, Cierra-chan," she said. "The more Butters learns about our craft, the more help he'll have to offer."

"Uh-huh…." said Cierra, suspicious of her friend's statement. "Ok," she gestured to Butters. "Butters, why don't we find the book you need first?" she suggested. "Then, while Stan and Kyle are looking for their stuff," she pointed to Stan and Kyle respectively, "you can skim through it, and by the time Kobi and I get to the decor aisle, you'll be able to help us find what we need."

"Wouldn't it be easier for our two parties to find what we needed separately?" asked Kobi. "We'd get out of the store faster."

"Actually," said Kyle, "this is a pretty big place. Since we're all leaving together, we shouldn't wander too far away from each other."

"That's true, Kobi," said Cierra. "We should stick together."

"Well…." said Kobi hesitantly, "...if you think that's best-"

"Come on, Butters," Cierra gently grabbed Butters' arm. "The books are over here."

Stan and Kyle followed the two of them and Kobi silently folded her arms and sneered before following.

* * *

"Huh, didn't think we'd find anything decent in there," said Stan, clutching his bag of new guitar strings. "But these strings are the same ones in the music store. Plus they're cheaper."

"Told you, dude," Kyle said holding a paper bag. He pulled out a large book from it. "And I got us some more sheet music paper."

As the cashier rung up Cierra's new materials, she patted Butters on the back.

"Butters, I gotta say," she handed the copy of "Sewing for Dummies" to the cashier, "You picked up that fashion knowledge _quick_."

"Indeed, he did," said Kobi, "You certainly managed to impress, Butters."

"Well, thanks, gals," said Butters with a smile.

"Though, I'm still not entirely certain about picking silver as the main color for the embroidery," said Kobi.

"Well, we have silver and gold, Kobi," said Cierra, "We can make some mock versions using both colors and then make the final choice."

"Do we have time for that?" asked Kobi.

"Oh, yeah," said Cierra. "We've got over a week."

Cierra reached into her purse to pay but Kobi stopped her. "Please, allow me."

As the girls began to argue over who paid for what, Butters joined Kyle and Stan at the store's exit.

"Hey, fellas," said Butters softly. "Thanks for comin' with us," he rubbed his arm. "I mean, you didn't have to-"

"Hey, no problem, dude," said Kyle. "I figured you'd need some backup with Kobi kinda...butting in on you and Cierra's project."

"I'm sure she doesn't mean to," said Butters. "She wanted to help just like I did. But I just felt like a fish out of water around them."

"Well, you don't anymore, right?" asked Stan.

"Well-"

"All done!" Kobi chimed cheerfully. "Looks like we've all got what we came for."

"But Sam isn't coming back for another half-hour," said Cierra. "What'll we do 'til then?"

"Oh, there's plenty of ways to kill time around here," said Kyle.

"Let's try the arcade," Stan suggested.

"Hmm…." Cierra pondered as they walked towards the mall's arcade. "Do they have any Kinect or dancing games in there? Those are the only games I play."

"Your dad always did want you to stay in shape," said Kobi.

"I think there's a new DDR game in there," said Stan.

Kobi gasped and said, "Not the latest edition of it?"

"I...think so," Stan said hesitantly.

Kobi gasped in a more shrill tone and began excitedly talking to Cierra in Japanese. She hopped up and down, barely keeping her composure as her tone of voice became higher and higher pitched.

"Okay, okay!" she cried out trying to calm Kobi down. "We're going in; we're going in!"

Kobi squealed, grabbed Cierra's arm and the two girls raced into the arcade, giggling all the way.

The boys found them waiting for their turn at the DDR machine. Kobi could barely contain herself and Cierra had an anticipatory smile on her face.

"So…" asked Kyle, "What's the deal with this particular game of DDR?"

"Well, Kobi entered a contest to get one of her favorite songs put on the game's playlist," said Cierra, "and she won!" Cierra threw her arms in the air excitedly then put them down as she continued to explain. "Ever since then, she and I danced to it everyday with the DDR game she had at home."

"Cierra-chan! We're up!" Kobi yelled excitedly. She took her place as player two and Cierra was player one. "Since you're a little rusty, I set it to the second most difficult mode," Kobi said teasingly.

"Pfft!" Cierra scoffed, "You couldn't beat me even on easy mode."

"We'll see…." said Kobi.

As the song began, it's title flashed on screen: Ojama-mushi (Stickybug) by Hatsune Miku. It was a fast-paced, dancing song entirely sung in Japanese. The girls both did exceptionally well, but near the end with the more complex dance moves, Kobi seemed to falter a bit, leaving Cierra to be proclaimed the winner.

"Ahh…." said Kobi breathing heavily. "Should've known better than to challenge you, Cierra-chan."

"Yeah, but," said Cierra, hardly out of breath, "you've definitely been practicing. You almost beat me!"

Kobi held up a hand and shook it in disagreement. "No, we would have, at best, tied." Kobi looked over at the boys awe-struck faces and sported a cheeky smile. "But what's to be expected," she said loudly, "when two _best friends_ play their favorite game together?"

Butters snapped out of his trance and recalled something Cartman had told him.

'... if you don't want her to totally forget about you, you gotta be a fucking man and assert your status as my cousin's friend!' he heard Cartman say. His expression became determined and he threw off his teal-blue jacket.

"Stan," Butters handed his jacket to him, "hold this for me."

Stan took the jacket, snapping out of his trance, and as Kobi stepped off the player two platform, Butters took her place there.

"Up for a second round, Cierra?" said Butters.

"Butters, you play?" asked Cierra.

"He's one of the best dancers in Park County!" said Stan as Cierra looked towards him. "Trust me, I know."

Cierra then looked back to Butters, who sported a confident smile.

"Think you can take me, Stotch?" said Cierra playfully.

"Bring it, Cartman!" said Butters with a laugh.

They used a different song this time: "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO and turned the difficulty up to expert. As they danced, they began to attract a crowd who clapped along with the song's beat. As Kobi looked on, she saw Butters get more perfects than she had ever gotten. Cierra was pulling out all the stops too; playing with an intensity that she had never seen before. Unseen by the two dancers, she began holding herself anxiously, and frowned as their song came to an end. The crowd around them, Stan and Kyle included, applauded wildly and Kobi's eyebrows narrowed angrily. She saw Butters and Cierra hug each other as their scores flashed on-screen: Butters beat Cierra by a single point! Something Kobi had never been able to do, not even with her favorite song. Kobi looked away. Her eyes shut tightly as she grit her teeth and whimpered softly but quickly took in a deep breath, regained her composure and placed a big, excited smile on her face before turning back around.

"Dude! You guys were amazing!" Kyle cried to Butters and Cierra as they approached him and Stan.

"We were?!" asked Cierra with a laugh.

"I've never seen anyone play DDR like that!" said Stan.

"Well, you know…." Butters said bashfully, "real dancing can be pretty helpful with games like these."

"Butters, don't be so modest," said Cierra. "You were awesome up there!"

"Well...so were you!" he poked Cierra playfully and the two began laughing. Midway through laughing, Cierra noticed their group was missing a member and grew concerned.

"Hey…." she asked, "where did Kobi go?"

"That…..was…. _stupendous_!" As if on cue, Kobi made her way to the pair. "You were an absolute sight to behold, Cierra-chan!" She flung her arms around Cierra, then pulled away to look to Butters."You too, Butters!" she said with a smile. She reached to place a hand on his shoulder and placed the remaining one on Cierra's shoulder, creating a group hug between them. "Is this an award-winning trio or what?!" She cried happily directing the question to Stan and Kyle. Kobi felt a strong vibration coming from her purse and pulled out her smartphone. "Oops!" she said. "That'll be Sam! He'll be here momentarily." She took her hand from Cierra's shoulder and addressed Butters. "Butters, would you be a dear and help me bring the shopping bags back downstairs?"

"Of course, Kobi!" said Butters as he followed Kobi back to the bags.

"Huh, I think we did good, dude," Stan whispered to Kyle.

"Yeah, I think so," said Kyle.

"Here they are!" Kobi chirped while gesturing to the bags. "I'll take these, and you can take those," she pointed to two paper bags, one of which contained Butters' book. "Cierra, insisted on buying it for you, you know," said Kobi.

"She's really great," said Butters. "The best friend I've had in a long time."

Kobi felt a sting at this statement but chose to ignore it.

"That's wonderful, Butters," she said as politely as possible. "Ermm...but, of course, you have…other friends…"

"Well, yeah," said Butters. "But not like her."

"I'm sure of that," said Kobi, "but-You know what? It doesn't matter." Kobi shook her head to emphasize her statement. "Butters, I hope you'll excuse my behavior from last night," she said. "I was only making sure Cierra had the space she needed to work. It was nothing against you personally."

"No problem," said Butters. "I was...kinda getting in the way," he said with a short chortle.

"Yes…." said Kobi slowly. "Well….that being said….I was also trying to make the most of my time here," she explained. "As you know, I'm only here for a visit. Soon I'll be off to New York City again."

"I know," Butters said simply. "Uhh, just when _are_ you goin' home anyway?" Butters asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's not important," Kobi said dismissively. "What _is_ important is...I don't appreciate what you've been doing, Butters."

"What'dya mean?" Butters asked confused.

"You and I both know this competition means the world to Cierra. Nothing would make me happier than to help her gain a confidence boost from winning it," said Kobi.

"Well, I know," said Butters, "that's why I've been trying to read up on this whole dressmaking thing."

"I don't think you understand," said Kobi who was beginning to lose her patience. "I appreciate your efforts, dear. But Cierra's going to need someone with _real_ expertise to help her win this competition."

Butters' face fell instantly upon hearing this.

"Now, wait just a minute!" he cried. "Cierra and I were doing just fine with our dress before _you_ came!"

Kobi felt another sting and clutched her fists tightly. "' _Your_ ' dress?" she hissed. "' _Your'_ dress?" She rounded on Butters with her teeth bared. "Last time I checked, it was _Cierra's_ design, _Cierra's_ work and _my_ assistance that was bringing it to it's full potential! What exactly makes it _your_ dress?"

"Cierra and I worked on it _together_!" Butters insisted. "It wasn't even for the competition in the beginning! I was helping her because that's what friends do! That's what _best friends_ do!"

"And that's another thing!" Kobi snarled. "I didn't appreciate your, quite frankly, PATHETIC attempt to show me up in front of Cierra!"

"Show you up?!" Butters shrieked angrily.

"'Bring it on, Cartman'?" Kobi asked sarcastically.

"I was just playing a game with my _best friend_!" Butters said with a growl.

"Cierra already _has_ a best friend!" Kobi snapped back. "And she," she gestured to herself, "has been more than patient with your futile attempts to push her out of Cierra's life!"

"Push _you_ out?! _You're_ the one who threw _me_ out last night!" Butters shrieked to Kobi. "If anyone's been pushing anyone out of Cierra's life, it's been _you_ pushing _me_ out!"

"Oh!" Kobi scoffed. "I did that to help _my_ best friend concentrate on her work!"

"Yeah, right!" Butters growled sarcastically.

Kobi noticed Cierra, Kyle and Stan approaching in the corner of her eye. She glanced at them, then turned to face Butters. "Alright, Butters. Why don't you humor me for a second?"

"How?" asked Butters through grit teeth.

Kobi ignored his frustration. "Cierra does not handle stress well. And seeing two friends at each other's throats is certainly not going to provide a stress-free environment."

"Yeah…." said Butters.

"If we want Cierra to win this competition, she'll need complete composure from both of us."

Butters noticed Cierra, Stan and Kyle behind Kobi but continued listening.

"I'm not too fond of you and you're not a fan of me," Kobi said. "But if you care for Cierra even a _tenth_ the amount that I do, you'll agree, for her sake, to keep focused on the task at hand."

"I care more than just a tenth, Kobi," Butters spat under his breath.

"Then we're in agreement?" asked Kobi. "I'll perform my designated tasks and anything Cierra needs _you_ for…." she said condescendingly, "...have at it."

"Will do," Butters said, visibly irked as they forcefully shook hands.

Kobi then put her award-winning smile back on and turned to face the three remaining children.

"You guys ready to go?" asked Cierra.

"Indeed we are," said Kobi in a posh voice. "Butters has been a _perfect_ gentlemen helping me with the bags."

"Aww!" said Cierra happily. "I'm _so_ glad you guys are getting along." She took both Kobi's and Butters' free hands and walked them to the nearby escalator. They smiled at her and let her go ahead as they approached the moving stairs.

As she passed, Cierra felt a strange chill run through her body. She held herself and rubbed her arms on either of her sides to warm up.

'That's weird,' she thought. 'Just got really cold in here.'

Butters and Kobi stepped on with Stan and Kyle behind them and unbeknownst to their three companions, both Butters and Kobi were shooting daggers at each other.

* * *

A/N: Oooohhh boy...the drama is coming... And chapter 7 will be up soon! Remember to leave a review, it let's me know how I'm doin' See you real soon!


	7. A Partnership Unravels

A/N: Okay...a LOT of things have happened since I published chapter six. SO. MANY. THINGS. My free time's basically been manhandled by training for a new, better job, so I haven't been able to give this story the attention it deserves. But the good news is this story's second act will have ended with this chapter and the story is entering it's home stretch. Hope you guys enjoy it and please accept my apology for taking so long in getting it to you.

* * *

"Have a good night, boys!" Kobi chirped from her limo's back window. She, Cierra and Butters all waved goodbye as Stan and Kyle turned towards Stan's house. "Such a quaint little house…" Kobi said to herself before quickly slipping back into her seat.

As the limousine pulled away, Stan and Kyle began to hear loud cluttering noises coming from inside. They entered to house to find Kenny sitting bored on the Marsh couch and Cartman rummaging through the living room.

"Cartman….what the hell are you doing?" asked Stan.

"Well…." Cartman said aggravatedly, "...since Prima Donna Kenny over there doesn't wanna go with any of my ideas, I have to find inspiration elsewhere."

"Really?" asked Kyle.

"Dude," Kenny narrowed his eyes and grumbled, "I've been doing all the heavy lifting, lugging equipment around and taking his shit for not putting the camera in the right place or not using some bullshit filter!"

"I told you that I wanted a wide-angle shot of the landscape," Cartman growled, "so why wouldn't you put on the fucking wide-angle lens?!"

"I can't even tell them apart, fatass!" Kenny screamed at him.

"That's why you're 'lugging' equipment around, Kenny," Cartman said haughtily, "because you have no creative vision, whatsoever."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, dickhead!" Kenny spat.

"Not my fault you chose to leech off my talent, Kenny," Cartman said in the same haughty tone.

Kenny hopped off the couch and rounded on Cartman.

"You know what, you shithead?!" he began and the two of them erupted into an argument saturated with swearing. As they argued, Stan and Kyle just stood and watched with apathy.

Kyle let out a heavy sigh and turned to Stan. "Dude?"

"My parents'll get 'em out," Stan said flatly, "let's just go upstairs."

They both quickly and quietly snuck past the arguing "partners" and headed up to Stan's room.

"Ugh! Kenny, I swear to fuck," Cartman said sharply as his voice faded away from the boys' ears, "not even my cousin is this bitchy!"

Soon, the argument became nothing but muffled voices as Stan shut his room door behind them.

"Phew," Stan sighed, "That's better."

"Yeah," said Kyle, "Let's get back to work."

Stan headed to his bed and dropped his shopping bag near the foot of it. Kyle made his way to Stan's desk and pulled out the new sheet paper he bought.

"I'd say we got some pretty good deals at that place," said Stan. He pulled out his new pick and inspected it.

"Yeah, it's like the Walmart of art supplies," said Kyle as he pulled out a pencil.

"Good call on that Kobi chick, dude," said Stan. "She was a stage 5 clinger."

"And a control freak," Kyle muttered.

"Cierra's not a very good judge of character, is she?" asked Stan with a chuckle.

"What'dya mean?" asked Kyle.

"Well, between Cartman and now Kobi-" said Stan.

"I don't think Kobi's _that_ bad…." Kyle admitted. "...I think she does actually care about Cierra. More than Cartman does."

"I think _anyone_ can care about Cierra more than Cartman does," Stan said flatly.

"They've been best friends since kindergarten, dude. That's almost a long as you and me," said Kyle. "That's gotta count for something."

"I guess so," said Stan. "But at least Butters isn't getting left out as much anymore."

"Yep," said Kyle, "At least there's that." He began copying the notes from the old paper onto the new one.

* * *

Later that evening, Cierra, Kobi and Butters all arrived back at the Ichiban Hotel. Butters scooted aside to allow Cierra to exit first and reluctantly let Kobi pass by him as well. Cierra headed straight for the hotel doors while Butters and Kobi lingered near the limousine. Kobi turned to face Butters with a stern look on her face.

"So, we're in agreement?" she asked.

"I'll stay out of your way if you stay out of mine," said Butters.

"Gladly," Kobi said flatly.

"Guys!" Cierra called out. "Come on! We've got work to do!"

Kobi turned towards Cierra with a broad smile.

"Coming, dearest!" she cried happily. She and Butters ran to meet Cierra at the hotel's rotating door, both of them increasing their speeds in succession to reach her first.

"That was my dad," said Cierra. "He said that he'd be home a little late and to stay with you, Kobi, until he came home."

"Oh, well," Kobi said proudly, "you and your father both know you're always welcome to stay with _me_ , Cierra-chan."

Butters frowned and came between her and Cierra.

"Cierra, I told my dad that I'd be a little late for dinner 'cause of the project we're doin'," said Butters, "but, if you want, I can stay for dinner instead. Then I can stay and help longer."

"Oh, Butters," said Kobi, "are you sure you want to do that? You've already planned to go home for dinner."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind, Kobi," said Cierra. "He'd only be staying an extra hour."

"Yeah…" said Butters, "I'll text him and let him know right now."

"Hmm…." Kobi grumbled softly.

"Great!" said Cierra. "Let's make sure that hour gets put to good use."

Kobi perked up and said enthusiastically, "Indeed! Let's get to work!" She threw her arms around Cierra in a tight hug and unseen by Cierra gave Butters a smug smirk.

Butters narrowed his eyebrows and took Cierra's hand firmly.

"We've got a masterpiece to make, right?" he asked.

Cierra nodded as Butters led her to the rotating door. Kobi quickly sprinted to Cierra's opposite side and Cierra felt another chill as they rotated through the door.

"Umm...guys?" she began as they came out on the other side. "Is everything alright?"

Butters and Kobi looked to her and Kobi quickly chipped in.

"Well, of course, Cierra-chan!"

"Sure," Butters said in a calmer voice, "everything's fine."

Cierra raised an eyebrow and looked to her two friends who both had large smiles plastered on their faces.

"Hmm…." she said softly. "Ooookay…."

* * *

Up in Kobi's penthouse, all three children were tending to their separate responsibilities. Cierra was putting the finishing touches on the dress's base, Kobi was preparing the decal patterns to place on the dress and Butters was helping Cierra with her work.

"Okay," said Cierra as she readjusted her sewing glasses, "just hold this piece steady, Butters," she handed the skirt's hem to him, "while I finish the inseam."

"No problem, Cierra," said Butters proudly. "I'm just happy about-about being a bigger help this time."

"You've definitely been a big help, Butters," Cierra said sweetly. "The idea you had about Kobi making a test patch for the dress's main embroidery was really smart."

Butters blushed at the compliment.

"I am feeling a bit lonely over here, though, Cierra-chan," a melodramatic Kobi said from the other side of the room.

Cierra finished the inseam and skipped over to Kobi. She looked over her shoulder and grew a confused look on her face. Kobi had made a white test patch and was finishing up one of two embroidered patch designs. A gold one was over at Kobi's side and the silver one was nearly finished.

"Kobi, how come you made three patches?" Cierra asked.

"Well," Kobi explained, "I figured we could, as they say, kill two birds with one stone."

Butters came behind Kobi as well and asked, "What'dya mean?"

"We were still on the fence about whether we wanted to make the main color of the embroidery silver or gold, yes?" Kobi continued. "I came up with the _brilliant_ idea of making _two_ test patches, each a different color, to test the color coordination with the dress as well as placement."

"Huh," Butters grumbled.

"A _smart_ time-saver," Butters frowned as Kobi looked to Cierra, "don't _you_ think, Cierra-chan?"

"Umm…" Cierra said hesitantly. "I don't know about that, Kobi."

Kobi frowned and asked concerned, "Well, why? What do you mean?"

"It was a little bit of a waste of fabric," Cierra pointed out. "I mean, this stuff's expensive and how would we reuse the patch we don't pick?"

"Oh…." Kobi said feeling regretful. "Well, I...suppose that's true…." she cleared her throat sheepishly and saw Butters silently laughing at her behind Cierra.

"It's okay, Kobi," said Cierra consoling her friend, "just ask next time, okay?" Cierra pulled Kobi out of her chair and turned to face Butters just as he finished chuckling to himself. "We're all a team here, remember? We should make these kinds of choices as a team."

"Of course, Cierra-chan," said Kobi still feeling shameful, "of course."

Cierra grabbed the three patches and strolled back over to the dress. Butters and Kobi joined her and they all chose the placement of the patch below the neckline.

"Okay, here should be good," said Cierra.

"Mm-hmm," Kobi nodded, "it matches the sketch perfectly."

"Oh, I forgot the chalk!" Cierra squeaked. "Kobi, would you mind-?"

Kobi was about to sprint back to the sewing table but Butters produced the tailor chalk almost instantaneously.

"Here ya go, Cierra!" he cried excitedly.

Cierra giggled and said through her laughter, "Butters, you're on fire today!"

Butters rubbed the back of his head bashfully and smiled.

"I'll hold it steady and you can mark its placement," said Cierra but before Butters could even move his hand, Kobi snatched the chalk from him.

"Hey!" Butters shouted in protest but Kobi placed a hand up to stop him.

"Relax, Butters," she said. "This requires a steady hand. We don't want to damage the fabric, right?"

"I'll be careful," Butters said with a slight growl while trying to hold a smile on his face.

"Kobi's right, though, Butters," Cierra said. "The chalk's hard to erase and we don't want it to be visible after the embroidery is sewn on."

"Couldn't we just wash it off?" asked Butters.

"Oh, no!" Kobi cried. "This fabric is dry clean only!"

"Let Kobi do it, Butters."

Kobi gave Butters a quick smug grin and she quickly and precisely drew the placement of the patch.

Cierra brought her hands down with the patch and brought the colored patches up for the final decision. She first put up the gold patch and then put up the silver patch. She continued putting them up in slow succession while mulling it over in her head.

"Silver or Gold….? Gold or Silver….?" she thought out loud. She, Kobi and Butters held their chins thoughtfully. "I don't know…." she admitted. She turned to Butters and Kobi. "What do you guys think?"

"Hmm...place the golden patch up again?" asked Kobi. Cierra did so. "Now, the silver?" She did. "Oh, no question," she said confidently, "the golden one, hands down." Butters looked at her in disbelief. "It's opulent and regal, and complements the cool color of the main fabric perfectly."

"I don't know, Kobi," said Butters.

"You're thinking silver, Butters?" asked Cierra, who placed the silver patch up again.

"The silver makes the dress's decor less...overwhelming," he said poorly imitating Kobi's upper-crust tone, "and allows it to be more accessible to a general audience."

Cierra giggled at Butters and said, "I guess that's true."

Kobi turned sharply to Butters then quickly came to Cierra's side.

"But Cierra-chan, to win this competition, we should be focusing on impressing the _judges_ , not universal appeal."

"And what's wrong with universal appeal?" Butters asked snidely. "If the dress's look is too flashy and _overbearing_ , it's not gonna win over anybody."

Cierra raised an eyebrow and said, "I….guess….that's true…." in a suspicious tone.

Kobi felt her face contort into a look of contempt but quickly fought it off and placed an arm around Cierra.

"But Cierra-chan, you want to be able leave an impression on the judges, yes?" she said, "And simply showcasing a _textbook look_ ," she said through grit teeth and a quick glare at Butters before returning to a forced happy look, "will only make you seem as though you're _desperate to fit in_." Kobi quickly glanced at Butters once again and Butters glared at Kobi's statement. Kobi placed her hands on either side of Cierra's face and gently squeezed her cheeks.

"You should focus on standing out, _Shin'yū_ ," said Kobi. "So, let's go for the gold," she giggled at her words. "Ha, ha, get it? 'Go for the gold'?"

Butters cut in between Cierra and Kobi and said, "It has to be unanimous, right, Cierra? You said it yourself. We all had to come to a decision _together_. And I still say the gold is too flashy."

"Well-" Cierra began.

"Well, _**I**_ say, the silver is too dreary," Kobi interrupted. "In fact, I say buying the silver fabric in and of itself was a waste of time!"

"Kobi!" Cierra cried. "How can you say that?"

"It's easy for her to say because _she_ wants the stupid gold," Butters grumbled.

"What was that, Butters?" Kobi asked in a faux innocent tone.

"Nothin', Kobi," Butters said in the same tone with a grimace on his face disguised as a smile.

At that, the doorbell for the penthouse rang. Cierra looked from Butters to Kobi and walked away from the both of them.

"Ooookay," she said uncomfortably, "that must be our room service, eh?" She began heading towards the door but Kobi stopped her.

"Cierra-chan, Sam can answer the door, remember?"

Cierra scooted past Kobi and said, "I think maybe I should help him with the trays, Kobi."

"W-well, if you're sure-"

"I am," Cierra said quickly and she sprung for the penthouse door.

"Oh…" Kobi whimpered sadly. She sharply turned towards Butters and harshly whispered, "Did I miss something? Are we just throwing our pact out the window?"

"Everything woulda been just _peachy_ ," Butters whispered back, "if you weren't bein' so _pushy!_ You couldn't just let me give something to the dress besides handing Cierra stuff?"

"Not if it came at the expense of the dress's quality!" spat Kobi. "We _are_ trying to win after all!"

Butters growled and struggled to keep his voice down to a whisper. "And what if Cierra wanted to use the silver, huh?!"

"Only if she wanted the dress to look like an amateur produced it," said Kobi arrogantly.

"Why you-!"

"Dinner's here!" said Cierra. Sam walked into the room with a large tray containing three covered plates and Cierra had the beverage tray with a large glass pitcher and three large glasses.

"Splendid!" said Kobi running over to Cierra.

"Whoa, careful, Kobi!" said Cierra as she struggled to keep the tray balanced. Kobi stopped short and admired the pitcher of deep pink liquid on the tray.

"This raspberry punch looks positively delicious," said Kobi.

"Right?" said Cierra. As Sam headed for the dining room, Cierra rested the beverage tray on the living room's coffee table. Cierra took one of the large glasses and poured out a small shot's worth of the punch for Kobi. She smacked her lips from it's sweet but tart taste.

"Ahh...delicious!"

Cierra then reached to pour some for herself, but Kobi quickly grabbed the pitcher.

"Please, Cierra-chan. Allow me."

"Are you sure, Kobi?" asked Cierra. "It's pretty heavy."

"It's no trouble," Kobi insisted. Kobi tried to lift the pitcher but it was as heavy as Cierra warned. She groaned audibly as she strained lifting it and, though she held the bottom of it for more support, it just barely got it off of the tray.

Butters quickly swooped in and grabbed onto the pitcher, relieving some of its weight from Kobi's hands.

"Don't worry, we can _both_ pour it," Butters said with noticeable strain in his voice.

"The gesture is appreciated, Butters…." Kobi said with the same strain in her voice, "...but I am _perfectly_ capable of pouring it _myself_."

"Uhh, I think it's too heavy for both of you," Cierra said quickly. Kobi and Butters began to wander further into the living room and as they came closer to the dress, she became very nervous. "M-maybe _I_ should just pour it!" she insisted anxiously.

"What's the matter, Kobi?" Butters demanded still straining from the pitcher's weight. "Why can't you just let me help?!"

"Because…" said Kobi, "We...don't...NEED YOUR HELP!" she shrieked.

At this, Butters narrowed his eyebrows in anger and yelled, "FINE!" before letting the large pitcher go. The sudden lack of support caused Kobi to fumble the pitcher and become doused in half of the punch.

"AHHH!" Kobi shrieked in horror. "This dress was one-of-a-kind…." she gasped, barely able to get out the words, "...custom made….How….how….?" She growled loudly, her eyebrows narrowed, nostrils flared and she swiftly hoisted the pitcher and its remaining punch. "HOW _**DARE**_ YOU?!" she roared and with every ounce of strength in her body, she hurled the other half of the punch towards Butters and drowned him in punch as well.

Cierra gasped loudly as Butters crashed onto the carpet with a wet slapping noise.

"Why can't you just leave us alone, Butters?!" Kobi demanded, "Cierra and I were working just _splendidly_ together without you!"

"Oh yeah?!" asked Butters in disbelief, " Cierra and _I_ were working on the dress together! _You_ didn't know _anything_ about the fucking dress until you _came here!_ All _I_ wanted to do was help! _I_ wasn't trying to be some crazy, clingy, _control freak!_ "

"Which is precisely why you should have just let us work, undisturbed! If Cierra's going to have her best shot at winning this competition, it's going to be with the two of _us_ working together!"

"Oh, _shut your fucking mouth, Kobi!_ " Butters shouted with a venomous tone. "You don't care about this competition! YOU'VE JUST BEEN TRYING TO RUIN MY FRIENDSHIP WITH CIERRA!"

"WHAT?!" squealed Kobi in astonishment, "You're accusing _me_ of being a saboteur?! Who made the pact for us to try getting along in the first place?! And since when does a boy _our_ age show _any_ interest in dressmaking?! Don't stand there pretending you have even a _margin_ of the passion Cierra and I have for this craft! Believe me, I know a poser when I see one! IF ANYONE IS SABOTAGING ANYONE'S FRIENDSHIP, IT'S YOU!"

"Butters….Kobi…." Cierra said softly, completely flabbergasted by what she was seeing. She felt herself slowly sinking to the ground and fell to her knees dumbfounded.

"Stop pretending that you give a damn about the dress, Butters!" Kobi demanded. "Cierra even told me herself you hated being her temporary dummy!"

"Maybe I did!" Butters admitted. "But she still needed my help! That's what best! friends! are for!"

With every word Butters emphasized, Kobi recoiled in disgust. "Stop….calling yourself…..her BEST FRIEND!" she snarled. "YOU DON'T KNOW _**ANYTHING**_ ABOUT HER!" she screamed and stomped the ground for emphasis.

As the two children continued arguing, neither of them noticed Cierra had begun staring to the ground, clutching two patches of the white carpet tightly and shaking them with rage.

" _ **ENOUGH!"**_ Cierra howled with a volume so loud it echoed through the penthouse. Butters and Kobi both turned to her in shock and she came back to her feet.

" _ **You both call yourselves best friends?!**_ " she asked furiously. " _ **LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"**_ Butters and Kobi turned back to the dress and both of their jaws dropped in sync. It had been saturated from shoulder to hemline in the raspberry punch and had been dripping wet for their entire argument.

"Oh my goodness...NO!" Kobi said distraught at the dress's state. She held her face in complete dismay, and Butters felt every drop of color drain from his face. They both immediately turned back to Cierra.

Kobi reached out to her in an attempt to comfort her but Cierra smacked her hands away.

"Cierra, please-!" she begged.

" _ **No!"**_ Cierra cried.

Kobi backed away and clutched her heart, visibly distressed. She returned to Butters' side who had finally managed to stammer out a few words."I-i-it," he began, "It was an accident-!"

"I was so _**HAPPY**_ _,"_ Cierra confessed tearfully, "...about my two best friends and me working on a project together! The last few weeks have been so _**awful**_ and I thought this would be the perfect way for us all to bond!" She stepped closer to them and shoved them away from the dress. "But even now…." She turned to face them with fresh tears streaming down her face. "...even doing something I love to do with people I love… _._ I _STILL_ CAN'T GET AWAY FROM BEING _MISERABLE!"_

Seeing Cierra this upset was destroying Kobi from the inside out. She couldn't even bring herself to say anything and she began silently weeping while still clutching her chest.

"C-C-Cierra-" Butters began.

" **I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!"** Cierra screamed throwing her hands over her ears.. Kobi felt her heart sink like a rock. " **NOT ANY OF IT! Not a** _ **single word!"**_ Cierra snatched the dressmaking mannequin with the ruined dress still upon it.

"If THIS is what you guys are gonna do while claiming to be my friends, then I don't want ANY part of it!" She scooped up her dressmaking tool bag and headed for the door. Kobi and Butters both reached out to her neither of them said a word.

"I'm finishing this project _**ALONE!"**_ Cierra shouted, shutting the penthouse's door with a mighty **SLAM!**

As the door's slam's echo subsided, both Butters and Kobi stood completely ashamed of what they'd done.

Meanwhile, Sam made his way into the living room and looked to the large pink puddle beneath the children's feet.

He gave a weary sigh and said dryly, "I'll send for a Rug Doctor in the morning."

* * *

A/N: Ohhh, so much drama. I gotta write a more light-hearted piece soon. Hopefully I'll be able to start my Halloween-themed story before November. It's...also a bit dramatic but it takes place chronologically before my more light-hearted piece. But anyway! Let me know how you feel about this chapter and story! Leave a review or a fav; it makes me feel super good! Chapter eight coming up soon!


	8. Million Dollar Tears

A/N: Oh, damn, is this chapter long! But I had fun writing it! Let me know if you had fun reading it with a review or a fav. Now, on with the show!

* * *

"Alright, children," said Mr. Garrison. "Time's up. Pass your papers to the front."

All the children did as they were told. The students sitting in the back passed each subsequent paper towards the students in front. When a small stack reached Butters, he reached forward and tapped Cierra on the shoulder.

"H-here ya go, Cierra," he said nervously.

Cierra turned to him. As she relieved him of the papers, he flashed a nervous smile at her. She only gave him a stone faced expression and said nothing as she added her own paper to the stack and passed it forward.

Butters slid down in his chair and sighed dejectedly.

The bell rang signifying the end of class and the children quickly left the classroom. Butters quickly leapt from his desk to try and catch Cierra as she sprinted out the door.

"Cierra! Wait! Please!"

But it was of no avail.

Over a week had gone by since Cierra last spoke to Butters. They'd pass each other in the hallways and she still passed him papers in class, but during recess...lunch...not a word was said between them. The competition's deadline was only three days away and Butters guessed Cierra was making use of every free second she had to concentrate on her entry. _Her_ entry, not _their_ entry. Not after what _he_ had done.

"Psst! Butters!" Cartman called to Butters. "What's goin' on man?" he asked. "My cousin on the rag or what? She's been super moody lately."

"No...I don't think so," said Butters. "She's pretty pissed off at me."

"For what?" asked Cartman.

"Well-"

"Wait! Hang on!" Butters began to explain but Cartman cut him off. "I actually don't care," he said plainly. "What I care about is why she's sitting around being moody, when she should be helping me with my contest entry."

"Well-"

"Doesn't matter," Cartman said cutting Butters off again. "Your help's gonna have to do." He headed towards the exit. Kenny came beside Butters as Cartman called back to Butters. "Come on, you asshole! We've got work to do! Fuck!" Kenny rolled his eyes annoyed and walked away as Butters dragged his feet to follow Cartman and stared to the ground sadly.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Butters found himself in an uncomfortable position while helping Cartman. He finally managed to settle on a superhero-themed photo shoot. A spot near the junkyard was the location of their shoot. Cartman was dressed to the nines in his Coon costume and setting up the camera excitedly.

"Okay, okay," he said to himself, "That should do it."

"Eric…." Butters was obscured by a large pile of garbage as he asked hesitantly, "...do I really have to wear this?"

"Butters, you wanna win this competition or not?!" Cartman asked irritated. "Now, get out here!"

Butters slowly stepped into view wearing, not his Professor Chaos costume, but one that bore a striking resemblance to Princess Kenny's.

"I don't know if I wanna win _this_ badly," he said flatly, smudging his red lipstick in the process."

Cartman sighed and shook his head. He grabbed a large garbage can from behind him and began approaching Butters.

"And weren't you and Kenny supposed to be workin' together?" Butters asked while adjusting his long, blond wig.

"Hey," Cartman shrugged, "'s not my fault Kenny bailed."

Butters raised an eyebrow and said, "Umm, actually, Eric. Yes, it-"

"Shh!" Cartman placed a finger on Butters lips to silence him then proceeded to dump the garbage can's dirt and filth onto him.

"AUGH!" Butters cried in disgust.

"Come on, dude," Cartman said nonchalantly, "Haven't you ever heard of suffering for your art?"

Butters began dusting the access garbage off and muttered, "I guess…."

"Good….now," Cartman pointed to a nearby garbage pile, "I need you to go over here and do your best impression of a dying Princess Kenny."

Butters looked over to his spot, confused. "Uhhh….how?"

"Just go and play dead!" Cartman insisted.

Butters attempted to do as he was told.

"Like this?" he asked lying on the ground.

"Turn over," he instructed from behind the camera.

Butters lay face first on the ground.

"Perfect!" Cartman said with a big thumbs up. He pressed a timer on this camera and quickly came by Butters side, making an anguished-looking pose to the sky.

As the timer went off, Butter shifted slightly. "Did it take yet?"

The camera shutter clicked.

"Goddamn it, Butters!" Cartman shouted exasperatedly. He huffed towards his camera. "You ruined the shot!" He fiddled around with the camera settings.

'I'm startin' to think this is why Kenny quit,' Butters thought to himself.

"Okay, Butters." Cartman said with a frustrated sigh. " _This_ time, don't move until I say so."

"Butters?" said a distant voice. Stan and Kyle came to either side of Butters.

"What are _you_ doing here?" asked Kyle.

"Not that it's any of _your_ business, Kyle," said Cartman, "but Butters and I have both seeked creative collaboration elsewhere."

"What?" asked Kyle, "But, Butters, I thought you and Cierra and Kobi-"

"We were," Butters muttered, "but not anymore."

"Huh? I thought you guys were doin' ok," said Stan.

"We were! We were!" Butters cried out in frustration as he rose to his feet. "But then me and Kobi had this big stupid fight and ruined the dress!"

"What? How?" asked Kyle.

"Does anyone really care?" asked Cartman dryly.

"What happened Butters?" asked Kyle, ignoring Cartman's comment.

Butters sighed and began to explain.

"Okay, so, Kobi said Cierra needed an expert's help with the dress, and I was just gettin' in the way. So, I got mad at her, but we pretended to be friends so we could get the dress done. But then I started doing well with Cierra, and she got all jealous, and then we started arguing, and then the-the raspberry punch was all heavy and-and we dumped it all over the dress and Cierra got mad and kicked us out and...hasn't talked to me since."

"Well, did you try talking to Cierra about it?" asked Kyle.

"Yeah, but she won't talk to me," Butters explained.

"No, I mean before the whole….raspberry punch thing?" asked Kyle.

"Oh…." Butters said as his eyes slightly widened in realization. "Ummm...no. Not really."

"And why did you two pretend to be friends?" asked Stan.

"Kobi said Cierra doesn't handle stress well," Butters explained and earned a loud laugh from Cartman.

"Oh, Jesus! You have _no_ fucking idea!" Cartman laughed.

Kyle gave him a warning glare and turned back to Butters.

"So, we tried to get along just for her sake. So, she wouldn't see us fightin' and get all stressed out." Butters looked to the ground sadly.

"And how'd that work out?" asked Kyle.

"Bad," Butters said simply.

"Ugh! Enough!" Cartman groaned. "Butters, let's keep shooting. Stan, Kyle, get the fudge out."

"Oh, stow it, fatso!" Kyle growled. Cartman recoiled as Kyle but his hand on Butters' shoulder. "Dude, maybe you should try talking to Cierra _with_ Kobi," he suggested.

"Are you kidding?" asked Butters. "If Cierra doesn't wanna talk to me, what makes you think Kobi will?"

"'Cause if she doesn't….you're both gonna lose something more important than the contest," Kyle pointed out.

Cartman made a silent gagging expression but Butters contemplated Kyle's words.

"Oh, my God….you're right!" He cried. "I-iIf I don't do something….we'll _both_ lose Cierra as a friend!" He sported a determined frown on his face, and spoke firmly as he threw his arms to the sky and declared, "I'm goin' over there right now!" He then brought his arms down after seeing Kyle, Stan and Cartman holding their noses. "Oh…" he said thoughtfully. He picked a ripe banana from his head and examined it. "M-maybe after a shower…."

* * *

At the Ichiban Hotel, Kobi was busy holding a three-way conference call with two girls about her age. One was well-dressed with olive-toned skin and jet black hair and she was busy brushing her hair. The other had slightly tanned skin with light blond hair and was passively filling her nails.

"...and now, it's completely ruined!" Kobi said dramatically turning in her leather swivel chair.

"OMG!" the brunette cried. "And that dress was _so_ cute on you!"

"What?" Kobi asked.

"The one you had on. The custom-made one?" she asked.

"Oh! No, no, no, no, no, Connie," Kobi said rapidly. "Not the one I was _wearing_. The one we were _making_."

"Huh?" Connie asked. "Why would you _make_ a dress if you could just buy one?"

Kobi paused for a moment and slowly said, "It was for a _contest_ , love." She flashed as genuine a smile as she could manage.

"...Contest?" Connie asked absentmindedly.

"Hold on," said the blond girl in a bored tone. She blew some dust off of her nails. "What were we talking about again?"

"Something about….um...her not liking butter on her dress?" said Connie.

"No, no, no!" Kobi insisted. "Not butter. _Butters!_ A boy _named_ Butters!"

"That's a weird name," said the blond girl as she began filling her opposite hand. "What about him?"

Kobi paused again, took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay…" she sighed, "...one more time. Butters, Cierra and I were working on a project-"

"Oh, yeah!" said Connie, "I remember!"

"You do?" Kobi asked excitedly.

"Yeah!" said Connie. "Cierra! Oh...she was such a sweetie!"

Kobi seemed to deflate at the comment.

"Remember her, Talia?" asked Connie.

"Yeah," said Talia, "didn't she have this other friend with a big mouth? She was really annoying."

Kobi became alert at this and chuckled sheepishly.

"Why'd we stop hanging out with her again?" asked Connie.

"She...she moved, Connie," Kobi explained flatly.

"Hey, as long as that annoying friend of hers stays away, I'm totally fine with her gone," Talia said, still looking bored as ever with her nails.

Kobi stood silent looking from one girl to the next and came to a realization.

"Ladies….you haven't heard a word I've said….have you?"

"Hmm?" muttered Talia as she blew the dust off her nails again. "What? I wasn't listening? Say it one more time."

Kobi slowly slid her palm up to her forehead.

"Oh…." she sighed, "...nevermind."

"No, no!" said Crystal. "Tell us your funny story! You always have the _best_ stories."

"The story I'm telling _isn't_ funny! It's serious!" Kobi whined.

Talia sighed. "I could use a funny story about now...I'm SO bored."

"...Well…..Sorry, Talia," said Kobi as sweetly as she could, "Ladies, I….unfortunately have some business to attend to. Ta-ta!" she said with a wave.

As she ended the call, her fake smile instantly faded and she gave a loud, dramatic sigh as she slid down her swivel chair. She slinked from the chair to her living room couch and crashed face first into it.

"Ohh, what was I thinking?" she asked herself forlornly. "Asking _them_ for advice?"

A faint chirping meow came from beneath her. She pulled her face up from the couch and saw Princeton's amber eyes gleaming at her.

"Ohh, Princeton…." she scooped him up in her arms and held him close. "I've certainly made a mess of things," she said sadly. "But all I wanted was to help my best friend." She held Princeton up to her eye level so his nose was touching hers. "Was that so wrong?!" she asked dramatically.

Princeton simply stared at his master and eventually blinked slowly for a moment.

Kobi frowned and brought him close again.

"Oh, who am I fooling?" she asked bitterly. "I can't even fool my own cat."

Princeton wriggled free from Kobi grasp, sat on the couch and looked up at her.

"I'm terribly transparent when I'm jealous, no?" She groaned loudly and collapsed onto the couch as though she were dead. "But can you blame me?!" she asked loudly as she threw her arms above her. "Dress making, DDR-those are _our_ special things! If she has more fun doing them with someone else...why would she need me anymore?" Kobi felt a wave of sadness wash over her as she slowly brought her arms down. Princeton came closer to her and let out another chirping meow.

Unknown to Kobi, the nearby elevator to the penthouse dinged as it reached its destination. Its doors opened and a recently showered Butters stepped out. Once the elevator closed, he looked around.

"Okay...penthouse suite," he said to himself. "Which way was it again?"

He ran to his left and turned a corner. He came to a long hallway and continued down it. He looked to his left, then to his right and decided to take a left. After a short bout of run around in circles, he came to Kobi's penthouse's large double doors.

"There it is," he said with a pant. He saw a room service cart nearby and passed by it while approaching the doors. He stopped short and paused before he began pacing back and forth nervously. "Oh, jeez….whaddo I say? Uhh….let's see….'Kobi...now, I know you wanna help Cierra and all but...well, you shoulda just let me help too,'" he rehearsed, "'I….I-I mean, I know you know more about dresses...and dress makin'...and fashion…," his voice tempered off, "' ….but...well….' Uhh…" Butters sighed and drooped his head. "Aw, hamburgers…."

He came back to the doors and was about to ring the bell, when a faint sound came from behind them. He cupped a hand to his ear to hear better but could only make out what sounded like muffled speech. He grabbed a glass from the room service cart and placed its mouth on the door and his ear on the bottom.

"...can I?" he heard. "Oh, Princeton," Butters recognized the voice as Kobi's and listened. "I really have no excuse," Kobi moaned forlornly, "I wouldn't be surprised if she never spoke to me again." Kobi sat up, held her face in her hands and began sniffling. "Neko-chan...things have been just terrible since Cierra's move," she said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "All our old friends...they've deserted me...seems no one likes being around me when I'm unhappy." She held herself tightly and spoke with a bitter tone. "Well...I have every right to be unhappy! My best friend has moved away...….AND SHE'S NEVER COMING BAAAACK!" she wailed as she began sobbing more liberally.

Butters winced at the sudden increase in volume but quickly returned the glass to the door.

Kobi collected herself and spoke more calmly. "I understand why she had to, Princeton. It was for her own safety, but I...I just can't help missing her….I knew I only had this short time with her. And I _did_ want to make the most of it," she said to Princeton. "But….that wasn't the _only_ reason I came…" Princeton curled beside her and meowed again. Kobi sighed and continued. "He really is a sweet boy," she confessed, "I don't have a _personal_ vendetta against Butters, neko-chan, it's just…." Kobi held her knees close to her and felt more tears welling up in her eyes. "I just didn't want to lose her again." Princeton gave a low meow and perched his front paws on Kobi's leg. He gently touched her face with his nose and purred as tears streamed from her face.

Butters had a concerned look on his face as he slowly took the cup from the door. He replaced the cup and it make a faint clinking noise. With this noise, Princeton suddenly became more alert. He leapt from Kobi's side and came to stand in the doorway.

"Princeton?" Kobi looked up and called to him.

Princeton was frozen near the door and began slowly flicking his tail. The door's bell rang and Sam appeared to open it.

"Umm...hi, Sam," Butters said nervously.

Kobi gasped and quickly wiped away her tears and sat up in a more dignified pose.

Sam soon entered the room with Butters in tow and announced dryly,

"Master Stotch for you, Miss Kobayashi."

Butters stared at the ground nervously as he entered the room.

"Thank you, Sam," Kobi said in a distinguished tone. Sam gave a quick bow and exited the room woodenly.

Butters wrung his hands nervously. Kobi softly drummed her fingers on the couch's arm.

"Umm...h-hi," Buttered stammered.

Kobi looked to him uncertainly.

"H-Hello…" she said hesitantly.

For a long period of time, those were the only exchange of words between them. The two children has short bouts of glimpsing towards each other, but mostly stayed still and said nothing. As the silence dragged on, and they both avoided each other's gazes, a deep breath from Kobi finally broke the awkward silence.

She gave a heavy sigh and said, "Butters…?"

Butters looked up at her and after a long pause she continued.

"Last week was a disaster," she said quickly.

"Yeah," Butters rapidly nodded as he quickly agreed.

"Mmmm…" Kobi moaned in discomfort.

"Kobi," said Butters. "I-I wanna...I-I _need_ to talk to you," he said trying to strengthen his tone.

"Butters, _I_ need to talk to _you_ ," Kobi said more confidently.

"You do?" asked Butters.

Kobi nodded. She hopped off the couch and approached Butters with her hands folded tightly behind her.

"I owe you an apology," she said gently. "I...well...I suppose I've been a real bitch, honestly."

Butters softly laughed but stopped himself as Kobi looked to him with hurt eyes.

"I was...very unfair to you," Kobi admitted. "And….I lied to you."

Butters's eyebrows raised curiously.

"...You did?" he asked.

"I _was_ jealous of your friendship with Cierra, and I _was_ trying to drive a wedge between the two of you," Kobi admitted. She held herself tightly as she continued. "In fact, it was...the main reason I came here in the first place."

Butters looked to Kobi but said nothing.

Kobi avoided Butters eyes and continued on.

"It was...horrible of me. But, I hope you understand, I had nothing against you personally. In fact I...I was glad Cierra made a new friend here."

"Wait, what?" Butters asked confused. If Kobi was intending to sabotage his and Cierra's friendship, why would she be glad about it?

"You seemed like a sweet boy and Cierra was very taken with you. I was happy she found some support so soon after moving away. That said….I started to become a bit….jealous with how much time the two of you were spending together. She's told me so much about you, Butters. But….had she ever mentioned me? Did you know anything about me before now?"

Butters thought to himself for a moment. "Actually, now that you mention it…."

Kobi bowed her head sadly. "I thought not. I didn't want to stop the two of you from being friends, I just...I started to get scared that I…that I was being replaced. Then all the talk you were spouting…." Kobi began to shake with frustration, "...about being Cierra's 'best friend'...it just made me….completely-" Kobi clenched her fists but relaxed them with another sigh.

"Hmm," Butters said thoughtfully, "Yeah...I guess we both got a little jealous. I was jealous of how long you and Cierra'd been friends and how close you two were. I thought she'd forget all about me and...I guess I started being kinda dickish too, huh?"

Kobi softly chuckled and said, "Just a bit."

They both chuckled softly, but still felt a bit uncomfortable.

They continued to avoid each other's gazes but this time Butters broke the silence.

"You know….Cierra can have more than one best friend."

"Well, of course she can!" said Kobi. "Besides, she's had plenty of friends. And after what she's been through, she'll need all the new friends she can get." She sighed and sat back on the couch. "It was selfish of me to think I could keep her all to myself. It's just….It's been so lonely back home without her…..I just didn't want to lose _my_ only friend."

Butters hesitated but felt Princeton gently pressing his furry head against his back legs as though he was urging him forward. Eventually, Butters sat beside Kobi and cleared his throat. Kobi looked up at him and her eyes went wide at what he was holding: a spool of the gold thread they'd bought for the dress's embroidery.

"Well….w-we could be friends," he said.

Kobi looked astonished and hesitantly took the spool from him. She silently looked at it in her hand for a while and eventually slowly reached into a nearby drawer. In it was a small spool of silver thread, the same thread Butters had picked out for the dress. Butters eyes went slightly wide, surprised that Kobi had kept his part of the project.

"You were right, you know," she admitted. She examined the two spools and began to put the gold one aside. "The gold... _was_ too flashy." She placed the spool on the coffee table in front of them, pushed it away with her index finger and looked away from it sadly, but Butters picked it back up.

"I don't know," he said. Kobi looked up at him and he put on his best posh voice before continuing his thought. "I think it coordinated with the turquoise fabric exquisitely."

Kobi raised an eyebrow at him but Butters gave her a genuine smile and she giggled at his attempt to be upper-class.

"But in all seriousness," said Kobi, "the silver _would_ have looked nice." She held up the silver spool and smiled at him. "It's understated, but classy."

Butters held the gold spool beside it. "The gold's nice too. It makes the dress…." he smiled at Kobi, "….sparkle."

Kobi looked the spools side-by-side. "You know, if the silver had been coordinated into the dress properly….and the gold wasn't so….overpowering-" At that, Kobi's voice suddenly trailed off and her eyes became so wide they looked ready to pop out of her head.

"Oh….oh….oh!" she gasped excitedly. "Butters! Butters! I've just been struck….with the most _stupendous_ bolt of…. _inspiration_!" she shout-whispered the final word.

"Really?" Butters asked.

Kobi threw both spools away in elation, threw her freed up hands onto Butters shoulders and shook him with exuberance.

"Yes, yes, _YES!_ " she squeaked. "But we need to act fast if we're to make the deadline," she said in a more serious, determined tone. She sped from the room and brought back a sketch pad. She began drawing with an intense speed on it and an extremely focused stare.

"Mmmm….yes…." she said as she sketched wildly. "This is the best I can do from memory," she confessed as she finished. "But…" she turned the finished sketch to Butters who gave an appreciative, "Whoa….!"

"You like it?" asked Kobi. "Hopefully, so will Cierra." She pulled the sketch away and began pacing around the room as she continued speaking determinedly. "We'll need a fresh batch of supplies and the entire weekend if we're to get this done, but between the two of us-"

"Hang on….We? The two of us?" asked Butters.

Kobi suddenly stopped short as she heard Butters's question. She calmed herself down before turning to face Butters.

"W-well, o-only if you _want to_...Butters…." she said sheepishly.

Butters thought for a moment then said warmly as he offered a hand to her, "Sure."

Kobi shrieked in delight and happily snatched both of Butters's hands and giddily twirled him around the room.

"WONDERFUL! WONDERFUL!"

Butters was quickly released but continued seeing the room around him spin out of control as he desperately tried to steady himself.

"Alright," Kobi said, completely oblivious to Butters's vertigo. She zoomed out of the room again and returned just a quickly with a wad of cash. "Here's $300; that should be more than enough." She quickly scribbled a list and handed it to Butters. "There we go...SAM!" she bellowed.

Sam returned to the room.

"Yes, Miss Kobayashi?" he asked dryly.

"Please accompany Butters to Creative Visions. He has a list of materials that I-that _we_ \- will need for tonight."

"Yes, Miss Kobayashi," said Sam in the same dry tone.

"Anything you're not sure about, just ask Sam, Butters," said Kobi, "he's helped me out of project jams more than once before and he definitely knows his way around a sewing machine," she added proudly.

"W-we'll, uh, okay," Butters stammered.

"Now, you best be off," Kobi gently guided him and Sam to the door. "I have one hell of a workload ahead of me while your gone." She intertwined and locked her fingers together and pressed them anxiously against her chin as she headed back to the living room. As Butters and Sam began to leave, Kobi had a realization midstep and quickly turned back around. "Oh! Butters…" she began.

Butters turned to face her.

"...thank you...for understanding."

Butters smiled at her as she smiled back.

"Sure, Kobi."

* * *

A/N: Yay for conflict resolutions! Okay, this story has at most two chapters left and just be ready for a LOT of stuff to happen next chapter too. Remember to review and fav, it makes me feel...loved :3


	9. Sleeping Beauty, Come Back!

A/N: OH. MY. GOD. This chapter...foof! This took **FOREVER**! But holy hell, it is AWESOME, if I do say so myself. Enjoy the drama, humor and...suspense? The story will be completed SOON.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Butters returned with Sam. The two of them were clutching large paper bags filled to the brim with supplies. Butters placed his bags on the ground to ring the penthouse doorbell and less than a second after, Kobi burst through the doors.

"Good! You're back!"

She sported measuring tape as a shawl and a pair of sewing glasses.

"I've finished the guiding patches for the new design, but I'm afraid we have a small hiccup to resolve." She explained as she began to pace nervously.

"What's that?" asked Butters.

"We need the dress itself," said Kobi as she continued pacing, "I tried to recover the dress but Cierra-chan..." she stopped and held herself anxiously. "...oh...she still won't speak to me. She won't even look me in the eye..."

Butters came to Kobi and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Kobi's expression quickly changed from sad to determined.

"We'll just have to get it ourselves," she said firmly.

"W-what?!" stammered Butters. "What do you mean?"

"We'll go to Cierra's suite, retrieve the dress, work on it tonight, and present it to her tomorrow morning."

"You mean...steal it?" asked Butters.

"What?!" Kobi squealed. "No!" she insisted. "We're doing what we meant to do all along-help her finish the dress."

"We-I-I don't know, Kobi," Butters said nervously.

"Butters," Kobi placed both of her hands on Butters' shoulders and spoke in an earnest voice, "please…..if Cierra finishes that dress alone…...if we don't do this….our relationship with her will be tainted forever. Even if she does forgive us."

"Mmm…" Butters groaned still unsure…

* * *

Cierra was alone in her suite's living room, focusing so intensely on her new dress, she was completely unaware of the time passing by. It was starting to get late, and though it was a Friday, she still had to aggressively fight her tiredness. She shook her head violently in a desperate attempt to stay awake, rubbed her eyes underneath her sewing glasses and looked to a nearby clock as it chimed. It showed the time 11:00pm and she groaned tiredly bopping her head against the dress dummy in frustration. She straightened herself up, picked up the dress on the dummy and began heading towards her bedroom. In the corner of her eye, she saw a blinking red light on her home's answering machine. She placed her dress down gently, approached the machine and pressed the play button.

"You have one new message," a digital voice said flatly. After a beep, the message began.

"Hey, princess," a man's voice said warmly, "It's daddy. I'm gonna be a little late coming home tonight," he explained, "We're a little short-handed at the office, so, I've a lot of patients to see and a lot of paperwork I still have to fill out," he added with an exhausted sigh. "I'll get everything done as soon as I can, but if I don't make it home before your curfew, just put yourself to bed, okay?"

Cierra nodded as though he could see her.

"Remember your routine: bath, teeth, pills-all that jazz," he said. Another voice muttered something in the background and he began to speak faster "Uhh, don't stay up too late aaand if you're sleeping when I get home, I'll definitely see you in the morning, okay?"

She nodded to her father's words and began heading to her bedroom when the message continued.

"One more thing before I go….I know you're still pretty mad at Kobi and Butters, and I don't blame you for it," he said "but you're putting yourself under a lot of unnecessary stress, honey," he added in a concerned tone, "they're your friends; give them a chance to explain themselves. I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt you."

Cierra looked away uncertainly as she contemplated her father's words.

"This contest you're entering, I know it's important to you, but it just isn't worth losing two friends."

Cierra continued to avoid looking at the machine.

"Well, I gotta go. I'll see you later, okay? Bye-bye, princess.I love you," he ended the message with a kissing noise and Cierra heard a click as the answering machine beeped again.

"End of final message," the answering machine's voice said flatly.

"Hmm…" Cierra mumbled. She went back to her new dress and dummy and picked them up to put in her room. She placed the dress near her bedroom window and sat on her bed contemplating it. It was all her work, uninterrupted and a spitting image of the one that was ruined but looking at it didn't make her feel happy, only….empty.

She sighed tiredly which led to a big yawn. She covered her mouth as she yawned and as she recovered from the yawn she felt her eyelids get heavier and heavier…

* * *

Later that night, Butters and Kobi made their way way down to Cierra's suite. As they exited the stairway, Butters looked around anxiously. Kobi casually walked past him, completely calm. Butters continued looking around nervously prompting Kobi to turn to him and ask,

"Butters, is everything alright?"

"Oh, no…" sad Butters with a slight whine. "...just waiting for my parents' grounding," he said softly.

"Relax, dear," Kobi said, "My father owns this hotel. If anyone can vouch for you, it's me," she pointed to herself. She continued toward Cierra's door with Butters in tow, still nervous as ever. As they came to the door, Kobi reached into her purse and pulled out a silver key.

"Kobi, how did you get the key for Cierra's suite anyway?"

"It isn't a key for her door," she explained. "It's a supervisor master key. "Opens every and any room or suite door in the building."

Butters eyebrows both arched curiously. "Really? Where'd you get it?" he asked.

"Oh, er, it's for...erm, emergencies," she said with a slightly guilty tone. She slowly and quietly opened Cierra's door. In the suite's living room, sewing and dressmaking supplies were sprawled across the floor. Several turquoise spools were near a floor lamp, a piece of measuring tape was crumpled up and a small magnifying glass was beside it. Cierra's French curve was beside her vary form curve and looked slightly cracked. Tailor chalk of various colors left dusty looking marks on the beige carpet and Butters and Kobi stepped cautiously as they noticed a few pins on the floor as well. Kobi noticed a large piece of turquoise fabric underneath a desk and went to investigate.

"Kobi?" Butters whispered.

"This way," Kobi whispered as she tucked the fabric into her purse.

Butters crossed the living room and joined Kobi at another door. Kobi carefully opened the door and the two of them entered Cierra's dark bedroom. In the darkness, only vague outlines of posters and a blue colored comforter on the bed could be seen. The only source of light came from the large moon outside the window. Its soft light cast itself over the new dress Cierra had made. It was nearly identical to the original but without the applique….or stains.

"Ah-ha!" Kobi shout-whispered. "There, Butters." She tiptoed over to the dress. "Give me a hand." She held one side of the dress dummy and Butters quickly joined her to take the other side. They groaned softly while lifting it up and carried it out of the room.

Kobi slowly closed the door behind them and they both sighed with relief.

"Thank God," said Butters, "that was easy."

"Indeed," Kobi agreed with a smile. However, the smile quickly faded into a worried frown. "Almost…. _too_ easy….Wait….Butters, did you see Cierra in bed?"

"I….don't think so," said Butters.

"Oh, dear!" she gasped. "Cierra's door! It's unlocked!"

"So?" asked Butters.

"Cierra's door should never be unlocked at night!"

"What?! Why?!" Butters asked more frantic.

"Wait!" Kobi zipped back into the bedroom and flung the sheets to the ground. "Oh, no….oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!" She quickly went to the window and tried to open it. She gained a horror-struck expression as it opened with ease. "Oh, no…" she whispered fearfully.

"Kobi, what's goin' on?"

"Cierra….she's gone," said Kobi barely able to gasp out the words. "She-she's not in bed and her door _and_ window were unlocked!"

"I-I don't get it," Butters stammered. "Why is that bad, K-?"

"SHH!" Kobi insisted placing a finger to her own mouth. After a few seconds, she darted her eyes back and forth then whispered, "Do you hear that?"

Butters listened and soon heard a soft tinkling sound.

"Sounds like…." he said hesitantly, "...Santa?"

"It's her bell!" said Kobi. "The one around her ankle!"

She grabbed Butters by his jacket sleeve, burst open the window and dragged him through it.

"Come on!" she pleaded as she scurried down the fire escape. Butters followed as quickly as he could but lost his footing on the way down. Kobi sprang down with ease while Butters ended up hitting his knees on the sidewalk's gravel.. He rubbed his sore knees as Kobi scurried and looked around frantically.

"Kobi…" Butters began as he returned to his feet, "...what's goin' on?"

"Oh, Butters…" said Kobi with dread, "I'm afraid poor Cierra-chan has bitten off more than she can chew with this competition," she explained.

"What'dya mean?" asked Butters.

Kobi cupped a hand to her ear and continued worriedly. "Whenever Cierra becomes _too_ focused or stressed about something, she ends up triggering her somnambulism."

"Som-samon-bila-," Butters stammered trying to pronounce the word. "Wha-w-what's that?" he finally asked.

"She's a SLEEPWALKER!" Kobi shrieked.

"WHAT?!" Butters shrieked back.

"Whenever she's under heavy bouts of stress, her sleepwalking kicks in. Ohh!" she held her face in her hands worriedly. "The contest's rapidly approaching deadline along with our senseless arguing must've been too much for Cierra-chan to handle!"

"Oh, Jesus!" Butters cried, "we gotta find her!" he added urgently. "But where do you think she went?"

The children's ear perked up at the small sound of Cierra's bell.

Kobi pointed in the direction of the sound.

"That way," she whispered and they both sprinted off.

After a few minutes, the bell's tinkling grew louder and louder and Butters was able to make out a lone figure walking in the middle of the road.

"Cierra?!"

Cierra was strolling lazily down the street in nothing but a white t-shirt and a pair of lavender pajama pants with yellow moons and stars on them. As she strolled, a pair of headlights suddenly flooded the street. A large jeep was speeding from the opposite direction and heading straight for Cierra. Butters and Kobi sprang into action and yanked her to the sidewalk just in time. As the truck passed with an agitated honk at them, Kobi and Butters panted heavily from the sudden increase in their speeds. Cierra, meanwhile, was still on her feet and still as stone, oblivious to the world around her and the danger she was just in.

"Oh….thank….goodness…." huffed Kobi.

"Yeah," huffed Butters, "now...we should….get her back-"

But before Butters could finish his sentence, Cierra was on the move again. This time in a lightening fast sprint.

"CIERRA!" Butters and Kobi cried in unison. They both ran after her but could barely keep up.

"I've heard of sleepwalking," said Butters, "but sleep _running_?!"

"Butters, somnambulism isn't just expressed through walking!" Kobi shouted as they ran. "People can walk, run, climb, drive, even have _SEX_ in such a state!"

"Oh, Christ in heaven!" cried Butters, "We gotta catch her!"

They both sped after her as fast as they could but were still losing sight of Cierra as the distance between them increased.

"Oh, this is getting us nowhere!" Kobi huffed and whined. "Neither of us can outrun her!"

"I-I-If only we knew where she was going," Butters panted, "we could head her off."

"Ah," gasped Kobi. "Ingenious, Butters! Quick! Where's the closest park?"

"Park?" asked Butters.

If I know Cierra, and I certainly do, she'll want to come to a rest at the top of the tallest tree in town," Kobi explained.

"Oh!" said Butters. "I showed that to Cierra a few times. It's in the middle of the big park!"

"All right!" said Kobi in a determined tone, "you head over to the park, try to cut her off," she instructed, "I'll stay on her from here in case she goes somewhere else."

"Text me if she does!" shouted Butters as he veered off his current path and made a beeline for the big park.

* * *

Meanwhile, Stan and Kyle decided to have a sleepover at Stan's and were sleeping in Stan's living room in their sleeping bags. Outside, Sparky, Stan's dog, began barking loudly. Stan was stirred from him sleep and eventually rose from his place on the carpet. He grumbled groggily as he opened the front door.

"sparky…" he said, "shut up. What's the matter with y-"

Suddenly, Stan saw a swift lavender blur pass by and he became more alert.

"The hell?" he wondered.

"Cierra-chan!" Stan heard a voice cry out.

"Dude, what's going on?" asked Kyle as he joined Stan and he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Cierra, slow down!" Kobi cried again as she sped past Stan's house.

"Kobi?" Kyle asked now fully awake.

The two boys grabbed their coats and sprinted after.

"Kobi?" Kyle asked. "What's going on?"

"Oh, it's just _awful_ , Kyle!" Kobi wailed. "Cierra's sleepwalking-er, sleep _running_ and if we don't stop her, there's no telling what danger she could get herself into!"

* * *

Further down the street, Cartman was muttering to himself as he dragged a bag of garbage to the curb.

"Ugh!" he groaned as he slammed down the can's lid. As he turned back towards his house, he saw a familiar, pajama-clad girl careening towards him.

"Cuz?" he wondered. "What're you doin' in your-Oh, fuck! Not again!" He said exasperatedly. He put himself in Cierra's path and held out a hand.

"Cierra-chan!" Kobi cried from behind.

"All right, cuz," Cartman said to Cierra, "you gotta stop right now and get back home!"

Cierra began to slow down at the sound of Cartman's command and soon came to a complete stop. Kobi, Stan and Kyle soon joined them and came to a stop themselves.

"Cartman?" Kyle huffed. "How-how'd you do that?"

"Eh," Cartman shrugged, "happens all the time when I go visit her. She doesn't usually get _this_ far though."

"Oh...oh, thank goodness," Kobi sighed in relief. "You stopped her. So, you must be…" She got a better look at Cartman and quickly straighten up her frazzled appearance before finishing her sentence, "...Eric."

"Yeah," Cartman said flatly.

"Well," said Kobi, "Now that Cierra is safe, we can just-"

Kobi's thought was interrupted by Cierra suddenly standing on one leg. Sporting a blank expression, she reared her leg back and stood still.

"Cierra-chan?" Kobi inquired.

"Cuz?" Cartman wondered with a raised eyebrow.

At this, Cierra brought her leg forward swiftly and in a lavender blur, her foot made forceful contact between Cartman's legs. Cartman's eyes bulged out and he howled loudly in pain. Kobi gasped, her eyes wide with , uncaring of her cousin's pain, continued barreling through the town.

"Cierra-chan, come back!"

Cartman held himself and alternated between grunting and coughing while Stan and Kyle couldn't help but laugh uproariously at his pain.

"Oh..." he said through coughs, "...shhhut up, you fucking assholes!"

"C-Come on," Kyle choked out between laughs. "Let's-ha ha!-l-let's go get her," he finished the thought while trying to regain composure, only coming down to a snicker. He and Stan both had huge smiles on their faces as they ran while Cartman limped to his feet and began to follow slowly.

"You're….so….gonna….pay….for that…. _cuz_ ," he snarled the last word for emphasis.

* * *

Cierra still kept a brisk pace as Kobi followed seeing only a vague outline of her.

"Oh, Cierra-chan, will you slow down," she huffed barely able to keep her pace. She began falling further behind as Cierra suddenly picked up speed again.

"No!" Kobi gasped. She pushed herself to speed up but Cierra quickly went out of sight.

"Oh, no!" Kobi gasped worriedly. "Cierra….Cierra-chan...NO!" she shrieked.

"Kobi!" Kyle cried from behind her. "What happened?!" he huffed. "W-where's Cierra?"

"I've lost her!" Kobi spazzed. "She doubled her speed and practically disappeared!"

"WHAT?!" Kyle squawked

"What happened?" Stan huffed as he joined them.

"We lost sight of Cierra," explained Kyle.

Stan pondered briefly and said, "Text Kenny. If she didn't turn or anything, she should be heading for his house."

Kyle pulled out his iPhone and brought up Kenny's number.

* * *

At Kenny's, he lay fast asleep when his phone started buzzing. He stirred a bit but soon quickly sprung up and grabbed it from the nearby nightstand. He unlocked the phone's screen with a swipe of the finger, rubbed his eyes sleepily and read his new text.

" **Sleeping beauty on the run! Did u c Cierra run by?** "

"Hmm?" he raised an eyebrow at this strange message and decided to look out his window. He heard the faint tinkle of a bell and as it grew louder, he left his room to investigate. The sound kept getting louder and as he stood in the middle of the road, he began to make out the shape of what looked like a person coming straight for him.

"Cierra?!" he squealed.

Cierra didn't respond but instead careened past him with such force that he slammed into the ground behind him face first.

A small trickle of blood escaped his nose as his slowly reached for his phone and feebly texted Kyle.

" **Ya."**

Later, Kenny had joined the others in chasing down Cierra until they came to the big park. As the sound of her bell suddenly went silent, she left everyone's sight and Kobi was even more frantic than before.

"Ohh, ohh, ohh," she moaned anxiously. "Where could she have gone?!"

Then, a different chiming sound met the children's ears. Kobi pulled her phone out of her purse and read the text she received.

" **I found her."**

* * *

Butters, Kobi and the others soon gathered around a very tall tree and laying peacefully on the very top branch was Cierra, acting no different than if she was in bed at home.

"You were right, Kobi," said Butters, "she just ran here and climbed straight to the top."

Kobi looked up at her friend and said exasperatedly, "Oh, Cierra-chan, you've certainly picked a _fine_ place to rest!"

Stan looked up as well. "We gotta call the fire department! Or the police or... _something_!"

Above them, a loud crackling sound was heard and they all watched in horror as the branch holding Cierra was beginning to break.

"There's no time!" shouted Kyle. "We gotta get her down NOW!"

"But how?" whined Kobi.

A loud huffing and puffing came from behind them all and they averted their eyes from Cierra to a very sweaty, very irritable Cartman.

"W-w-where is she?!" he demanded.

No one replied but Kyle, Kenny and Stan exchanged mischievous looks with each other before shooting them towards Cartman.

"W-w-what?!" he panted.

A few moments later, Cartman found himself at the bottom of a human ladder. Above was Stan, Kenny, Kyle, Butters, and balanced at the top was Kobi.

"Can you reach her, Kobi?" Butters said as he strained to hold her up.

"I can almost…" Kobi said with a strain in her voice. As she reached for Cierra, the branch cracked loudly again and Kobi gasped loudly, nearly throwing herself backwards. She flailed her arms to regain her balance making the boys beneath her let out frightened gasps as well.

"Watch it, dude!" cried Stan.

"Sorry, sorry!" said Kobi grabbing the tree's trunk to steady herself.

"You okay, Kobi?" asked Butters.

"Uhh...yes," Kobi said in a shaken-up voice. She cleared her throat and collected herself. She had Cierra well in her sights and called out to her. "Cierra-chan! You have to wake up! Please!"

"Isn't waking up a sleepwalker dangerous?" asked Stan in a straining voice. "We could kill her."

"No," answered Kyle with equal strain, "that's just a myth."

"Whatever! Just get her down!" Cartman cried from the bottom.

"We're workin' on it!" cried Butters.

Kobi gasped silently and her eyes went wide as the branch began bent further down.

She gasped sharply. "Oh, lord. Oh, my goodness!" She gripped one arm tightly onto the tree and stretched over towards Cierra. "Cierra! Please, dearest, you must wake up!" She stretched as close to her as she could and managed to snag her by the ankle. She strained audibly as she tried to pull her close but the branch cracked again and fell even further, causing Kobi to lose her hold on her. As Cierra began to slide down the branch, Kobi's eyes went wide in fear, but Butters managed to grab her around the torso. He groaned from the added weight, trying to support her and Kobi at the same time. Kobi noticed this and quickly threw both of her arms around the tree to alleviate some of his burden.

"Ahh!" he cried, "She….SHE'S SLIPPIN'!"

"Hold on, Butters!" cried Kobi. She shrieked as she accidentally loosened her grip on the tree and struggled to reattach herself. "Ahh!" she cried out.

"Hrugh….urgh…." Butters held Cierra as long as he could but her weight proved to be too much for him to handle. Kyle cried out and tried to help Butters steady Cierra but the help came too late and Butters lost his grip on her. Kyle caught her mid-fall by the torso and grunted loudly trying to hold up Butters and Cierra while trying to keep his balance.

Kobi was beginning to lose her footing on the tree as well and gasped in fear as she felt less and less secure on the tree.

"Ahhhh!" she shrieked.

"Kobi!" Butters quickly reached up to try and stable her again but this sudden increase in weight did not bode well for Kyle. He strained audibly holding Cierra and holding up Butters who was trying and failing to keep Kobi on the tree's trunk. Their human ladder began wobbling, everyone struggling to keep their balance. The force of the wobbling, caused Kyle to lose his grip on Cierra's torso. He gasped sharply but quickly grabbed her by the wrist to keep her from falling. As the human ladder continued to flail with increased force however, Kyle lost his hold on Cierra and she began to plummet towards the ground. Everyone's eyes went wide in terror as they witnessed this.

"NO!" Kyle screamed.

"CIERRA!" cried Kobi completely losing her hold on the tree. "AHH!" she screamed.

"KOBI!" yelled Butters. He quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her mid-fall.

"Oh…" she sighed in relief. "Thank you, Butters. But….what about Cierra?"

"That has been taken care of, Miss Kobayashi," said a dry voice All the kids look in its direction and saw a tired-looking Sam at the bottom of the tree, cradling a sleeping Cierra in one arm.

"Sam?" said Kobi.

"Release her, Master Butters," said Sam as he held out his free arm to Kobi. Butters did as he was told and Kobi let out a short yelp before Sam caught her effortlessly.

"Hee-hee," she giggled.

Sam helped each of the children down while safely holding Cierra. Once they were all safe, Kobi addressed Sam.

"What are you doing here, Sam? Aren't you off the clock?"

"Yes," he answered, "However, as I was retiring to sleep, I witnessed you and Master Butters leaving the hotel rather frantically and was able to track you down to here once I assessed the nature of the situation."

Cierra shifted in Sam's arm and Sam held her tightly as she began to flail, looking ready to leap right out of his grip.

"Oh," said Kobi, "Poor Cierra."

"Well, at least she's safe now," said Butters. "We can take her home."

"We need to wake her up first," said Kobi. "Otherwise, she'll just get up and the chaos will start all over again." Kobi flailed her arms for emphasis.

"If everything that happened in the damn tree," said Cartman, "the yelling, playing hot potato with her as the potato and nearly falling to her death didn't wake her up, what the fuck will?!"

Sam used his free hand to pull a small spray bottle from his pocket and gently spritzed Cierra's face with water.

"Phfft!" Cierra stopped flailing and wiped the water mist from her face. "Huh…? Whuh…?" she said sleepily. "Whuh….where am I?"

"Outside," said Sam, "I'm afraid you were engaging in your somnambulism again, Miss Cartman."

She gave a big yawn. "Oh, no…." she said with groggily.

"Not to worry," said Sam flatly. "You're going home. So you may return to a restful sleep if you wish."

Cierra yawned again and began to close her eyes. "Okay…." she said tiredly and took up his offer by snuggling close to him.

Cartman looked on slack jawed at this development as Kobi closed his mouth and addressed Sam again.

"Oh, Sam….is there anything you can't do?" she said. "My father really doesn't pay you enough."

"How much _does_ he get paid?" asked Stan.

"Not enough, Master Stan," said Sam. He briefly smiled at Cierra, who had settled back into a deep sleep. "Not enough."

* * *

Later on, Sam drove all of the children home until only Kobi, Butters and a sleeping Cierra were left. Butters sat next to Kobi, and Cierra lay sleeping soundly with her head resting in Kobi's lap. she rubbed her back gently and sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness," she said. "For I second there, I thought…"

"I know," said Butters, "that was scary."

"Mm-hmm," Kobi agreed. "But I must say Butters, you were magnificent back there."

"Who me?" said Butters. "Nah," he added dismissively, "I dropped her."

"Maybe," said Kobi, "But you held her for a good long time. Were it not for you and Kyle, Sam wouldn't have made it in time." She put a hand on his shoulder. "You're a hero," she said sweetly.

"Aw….well, heh…." Butters said bashfully. "You're a hero, too, Kobi," he pointed out as Kobi removed her hand. "You knew where Cierra was going and caught her the first time she fell."

"Perhaps," said Kobi, "but we both know who the real hero of the night is." She flashed a big smile at Sam and Butters did the same. Sam caught a glimpse of them in the rear view mirror but said nothing. "He's so modest," said Kobi, "but the best servant anyone could hope for."

Butters nodded in agreement.

Soon, they made it back to the Ichiban, and Sam let out Kobi and Butters before he carefully took Cierra out and cradled her in both his arms.

"I will return Cierra to her suite, Miss Kobayashi," he said dryly.

"Very good, Sam," said Kobi, "then do yourself a favor and take tomorrow off."

"Thank you, Miss," said Sam as he moved past her and Butters.

They both watched Sam carry Cierra off and sighed in unison.

"Well, Butters…" said Kobi who looked towards her, her face flashing a determined grin. "I believe _we_ have a dress to finish."

* * *

A/N: Hooray! Cierra's safe now! Only time will tell


	10. Backstitched Bonds

A/N: YES! FINAL CHAPTER HAS ARRIVED! IT TOOK MONTHS BUT I FINALLY FINISHED IT! I AM SOOO HAPPY! ...umm...okay...Well, not much to say except, uh...ENJOY!

* * *

"Ughhh…." Cierra groaned groggily the next morning. She slowly blinked her eyes open as sun poured in through her bedroom window. She groaned, let out a huge yawn, sat up in bed and stretched. "Ohh, my head," she said still half asleep, "What happened last night?" She looked around her room for any sort of clues and her half-lidded eyes became fully awake as she noticed her dress was missing.

Her shock became frustration as she immediately realized who was responsible.

"Kobi…." she growled.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kobi stood beside Butters as he placed the finishing touch on their project.

"Well….It took the entire night," Kobi said sleepily, "...but it's…." she gave a huge yawn, "...absolutely gorgeous."

"Mm-hmm…." Butters nodded sleepily.

"Now, then," Kobi said slightly more alert, "all we need to do now is-"

At that, they heard a loud pounding at the front door and frantic doorbell ringing.

"Kobi!" Cierra said in a loud, firm voice.

Kobi was now completely awake.

"Well, that was easy," she said quickly. "Hurry, Butters!" she turned towards him, "Put the sheet over it!"

Butters grabbed a large white sheet and did as he was told. Kobi lifted the sheet up just enough to show the hemline of the dress before snatching Butters' hand and leading him to behind the couch.

"You sure she'll like it?" whispered Butters,

"Certainly!" Kobi whispered back, "and if not...I have a backup plan." she added with a wink.

As they hid, Cierra came into the den with a very unhappy look on her face.

"Kobi!" she called, "Where are you?! I know you took my dress!"

Kobi put finger to her lips to signal to Butters to be quiet. He nodded to her in agreement.

"Kobi!" Cierra called again. She came face to face with something under a large white sheet. She then looked closer and saw the bottom of her dress sticking out. She rounded on it immediately and threw the sheet off. As her dress came into view, Cierra's frustrated frown became an awestruck gape. Her dress was finished, decked out with both gold and silver in its decorative features. The neckline was thick ribbons of gold on the outside and silver bodice was sporting a gold and silver floral applique and the waistline was a shining ribbon of gold fabric. Stylized silver stars were scattered above the skirt's bottom and the bottom hem matched the neckline but with gold above it and silver lining the bottom.

Kobi smiled as she peeked at Cierra from her hiding place and took Butters' hand once again.

They both jumped from behind the couch and yelled, "SURPRISE!"

Cierra turned sharply to face them.

"Kobi? Butters?"

"Hi, Cierra," Butters waved nervously.

"How do like the finished product?" asked Kobi with a big smile.

"Wait….You….? You did this?" asked Cierra.

They both nodded.

"Together?" she asked in disbelief.

"We said we were going to do this together," said Kobi, "and I think it came out _splendidly_ , don't you?"

Cierra blinked still confused.

Butters nudged Kobi and she rubbed her arm gently, "I know, I know," she said softly to him. She faced Cierra again. "Cierra-chan…I-" she took Butters hand and led him forward, "- _we_ want to apologize."

"Yeah," said Butters, "we both wanted to help with the dress and all, but we were too busy being all shitty to each other."

"Indeed," said Kobi, "Our behavior was completely shitty." She looked to Butters again. "But to be fair," Kobi placed a hand on his chest, " _I'm_ mostly to blame for any hostile behavior exhibited."

"Huh?" Cierra raised an eyebrow.

Kobi looked away nervously but Butters gave her an encouraging look. She took a deep breath and came closer to Cierra. "Cierra-chan….I haven't been completely honest with you."

"What'dya mean, Kobi?" asked Cierra.

"The reason I came in the first place…." said Kobi, "...wasn't _just_ for a visit…"

"Uh-huh…." said Cierra.

"I…. _might've_ intended _slightly_ more nefarious plans for this visit…." Kobi said in a strained tone.

"Like….?" said Cierra raising an eyebrow.

Kobi winced a little and struggled to get the next few words out. "Maybe….purposefully drive a wedge between you and Butters?" she said quickly with a nervous laugh.

"Kobi…." Cierra shook her head.

"I know! I know! It was a _terrible_ thing to do!" Kobi wailed. "I just couldn't help myself, Cierra-chan! I was just-" Kobi hesitated.

"Just what?" Cierra asked. "Jealous? After all the years _we've_ been friends?"

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Kobi insisted but backpedaled, "Well...yes, but NO! That's not why!"

"Then why?" asked Cierra.

Kobi held herself sadly and Cierra saw a few tears escape her eyes.

"I had nothing against Butters, personally, it's just…..things haven't exactly been ideal since you left New York, darling," Kobi began. "After you left, many of our old friends, Connie, Talia….they abandoned me."

"Abandoned you?" said Cierra, her face showing a concerned look.

"Yes….You know I've always been the life of the party," she forced a laugh for emphasis but still sounded tearful, "well….it's been a rather daunting task smiling everyday at school…." a few more tears began to stream down her face, "...only to cry once I'm home."

Cierra gasped softly and looked even more concerned.

"And well... apparently no one liked sad Kobi," she laughed tearfully again.

"Oh…" Cierra said softly.

"And….and when you began telling me about Butters, at first I was glad you'd made a friend so soon after leaving," said Kobi "but….I guess I was just afraid that..." she tensed up and continued sadly. "I didn't want the two of you to _not_ be friends. I just….didn't want you to abandon me too."

"Kobi…." Cierra whispered.

"Everyone just wants me to cheer up….get over the fact that you've moved away but….I just can't help missing you all the time," she said woefully.

"But….why didn't you tell me?" asked Cierra.

"I knew you had to leave for your own safety," said Kobi, "I didn't want you to feel guilty." Kobi confessed. She looked down at the floor sadly. "You've already cried so much, Cierra-chan….I didn't want you to cry over me."

Butters looked to Kobi and put a hand on her back. Kobi looked up at him and he pointed to Cierra, who now looked at her friend with tearful eyes.

"Oh, Kobi…." said Cierra. She quickly came to Kobi and threw her arms around her in a huge hug. She pulled away and finished her thought. "...What kind of friend would I be if I didn't cry for you?"

As the tears in Cierra's eyes gently fell, Kobi's eyes soon produced new tears and she smiled and sobbed happily as Cierra and she held each other. Butters looked on with a smile and started to leave the two girls alone but he felt a tug on his sleeve and Kobi pulled him into the hug with her and Cierra. They all shared a group hug for a while until Cierra finally broke it.

"I meant what I said, though," said Kobi, "I do _love_ making new friends. And well….you'll be happy to know, Cierra-chan, that I've made a new friend….Butters!" she squealed happily.

"Really, Kobi?" asked Cierra.

"Oh, yes," she nodded proudly, "After what happened yesterday, I'm sure the two of us will be inseparable...Right?" she asked while turning towards Butters.

"Mmmm….maybe," said Butters nonchalantly.

"Huh?" Kobi asked worriedly, "But-But Butters, I thought-"she began until she saw Butters' mischievous smirk. Kobi returned the smirk, playfully shoved him and said, "Why, you….!"

And they all began to laugh until Cierra chimed in with, "W-wait a minute...what _did_ happen yesterday?"

Butters and Kobi quickly looked to each other and said, "Nothing!" in unison.

"Guys…." Cierra said accusingly while folding her arms.

"Don't worry about it, Cierra," said Butters suddenly letting out a huge yawn. "Trust me, it's all okay now."

"Yes," said Kobi with a matching yawn, "everything is just...fine," she said sleepily.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Cierra.

"Oh….just a bit tired," Kobi admitted. "We were, after all, working on the dress all night."

"All night?!" said Cierra, "you two must be exhausted!"

"No sweat," Butters said groggily, "It was a…." he let out a another yawn, "...labor of love."

"Well," said Kobi as she rubbed her hands together and walked towards the dress, "What do you say about packing up this masterpiece and sending in?! The deadline _is_ tomorrow!"

"Yeah!" said Cierra lifting the dress off the mannequin. "If we hurry, we can beat the rush at the post office for supplies." Cierra put the dress on a hanger and into a plastic dry cleaner bag and began heading for the door. "Then, I think maybe you guys should come back and take a nap," she turned back to her friends, "I bet you're really-" but before she could finish her thought, Cierra's eyes went wide in surprise, before her face settled into a gentle smile as she witnessed her two friends sleeping on the floor side by side. As they slept, Cierra silently snuck from the room with the dress in hand and as she left the suite, whispered, "Go ahead and rest, guys. You deserve it." Sam opened the door for her and they both left the suite to ship off the dress.

* * *

The next day, Butters and Cierra both gripped a suitcase tightly and heaved it into the back of Kobi's limousine. They both breathed heavily and wiped the sweat from their brows as Sam closed the trunk down.

"I'm gonna miss you, Sam," Cierra said sweetly.

Sam gave her an affectionate pat on the head at which Cierra chuckled.

The sound of doors opening was heard followed by a voice.

"You know you didn't have to do that," said Kobi. She came through the hotel's doors with Princeton clutched gently in her arms.

"'S no trouble, Kobi," said Butters.

Princeton meowed and leapt to the ground. He purred and cuddled up to Cierra's leg. Cierra smiled and stroked him from head to tail.

"Well….I suppose that's it then," said Kobi with her hands behind her back. "That was the last piece of luggage," she added sadly.

"Do ya really gotta go, Kobi?" asked Butters.

"Alas!" Kobi said dramatically draping her arm over her face. "I'm afraid so, Butters, dear." She peaked one eye under her arm and smiled. "But don't worry," she came closer to him and held him close. Butters hesitated but soon returned the gentle hug. "I'll be back," she said over his shoulder before pulling back into Butters' view. "As if I'd pass up an opportunity to visit my best friend," she gestured to Cierra, "and my…." she stopped and turned to look to Butters sweetly before finishing her thought. "...new friend," she said with a smile.

Butters returned the smile but got thrown for a loop when Kobi gave him a well-placed peck on the cheek.

"Mmmuah!"

As Kobi broke the kiss, she couldn't help but giggle as Butters' held the cheek she kissed and his entire face turned bright red.

"That's for….you know," she whispered to him.

Cierra giggled too. "Kobi always was the affectionate type," she said with another giggle.

"Guilty!" Kobi chimed. As Kobi rounded on Cierra, Princeton approached Butters and put his front paws on his knees, his big amber eyes looking up at him. Butters pet his head and he purred appreciatively.

"We're gonna miss you, Kobi," said Cierra.

"And you _know_ I'll miss _you_!" Kobi cooed. The two girls hugged each other tightly and Kobi pulled away slightly to give Cierra a kiss on both cheeks and her forehead with a loud, smooch sound accompanying each one.

Cierra giggled at her friend, "Kobi…."

Butters looked on with wide, surprised eyes.

They both let out a happy "Mmm….." as they embraced one last time. Once they broke hug, Cierra and Butters followed behind her to her limoscene. Princeton hopped into the back seat and Kobi joined him. Sam closed the door behind her and headed to the driver's seat in front. As the limousine's engine turned over, Kobi peeked her head through her back window. She reached out her hands and took Cierra's in one and Butters' in the other. "Weep not for me, my darlings," she said in a dramatic, upper-class voice, "for we _will_ meet again….Sayonara!" she chimed as she zipped back into the car and waved goodbye as the limo began to pull away from the hotel.

"Bye, Kobi!" Butters and Cierra cried as they waved goodbye to her.

A bit further down the road, when Cierra and Butters were out of sight, Kobi pulled her head back into the limo and pushed a button to close it. She gave a wistful but happy sigh and turned to a stack of papers beside her. She pressed a button on her intercom to Sam.

"Are these..?" she asked.

"Yes," Sam said dryly, "You're scheduled to begin after the holidays, Miss."

"Mmm!" she squealed, happily hugging the papers then releasing them to begin the task ahead of her.

"Name of student:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _" She saw printed at the top…...

* * *

A/N: Well, now that this story's done, what did you guys think?! Do you want to see Kobi come back? What was your favorite part or parts? Least favorite part or parts? Anything you wanted to see that didn't happen? What is next for Butters and Cierra's friendship? Who knows? All I know is...I need a break! If I don't start another story before then, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year! Thanks for reading and let me know how you like the story with a review! Bye! :)


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